ANOMALY
by lolmyster42
Summary: It wasn't supposed to happen this way. While attempting to erase his memories for the first time, ephemural kills him by accident, so the masks need someone of equal or greater power to take his place. So why not a over-powered teen from another dimension who just went through the greatest loss of his life?
1. Chapter 1

**ANAMOLY**

**Episode 1- A ghost of his former self**

**Disclaimer- I don't own mad father, prototype, or TwoKinds. Only saying this once, don't own squat. Or jack.**

Smoke was rising from the middle of the forest, the origin of it coming from a large mansion, burning to the ground. In front of it, a lone figure stood watching the mansion burn. He was of average height, 16 years of age, and dressed in blue tennis shoes with blue socks, aqua sweatpants, and a cyan V-neck with a blue un-zipped hoodie with the hood up, the shadow the hood casting shrouding his features in blackness above his nose, making his eyes and hair impossible to see. He muttered to himself as he watched the flames, "So, it's finally over…still can't believe it, that monster…better start walking to town…" rubbing the spot on his neck where he was injected, he started walking into town.

Renzo, along with his gang members, were leaning on a wall next to the old, run-down apartment building in town, when they saw a blue figure walking up the road. Thinking this was the most ridiculous thing he had ever seen, he motioned to the 7 deadbeats next to him to advance on the lone figure, seeking easy coinage.

That same lone figure was walking down the street of the town he walked into, when 8 shifty-looking characters preyed upon him. The tallest one walked up to him and spoke in a strong Spanish accent, "Ey, man, you do not just walk up in cobra territory and-" his sentence was cut off when the blue figure thrust his hand onto his chest, eliciting a loud-sounding SMACK! As he was knocked to the ground. The figure stated, "Not in the mood, dude…" He didn't take three steps before the man on the ground barked an order in Spanish, causing one of the punks to step in front of him and whip out a pocket knife, plunging it into blue's stomach. The man who stabbed him was grinning, until he felt a presence go through his chest. When 'blue' was stabbed, his reflexes kicked in, forcing his hand to go through the man's chest. The knife fell from his stomach as tendrils formed from his back, plunging themselves into the stabber, dissolving him and absorbing him into 'blue'. The hole in blue's stomach healed, as he fell to the ground in pain, memories on his first consumed prey shifted through his mind.

"Yo man, what the hell is this thing!?" one of the gang members shouted, before 'blue' shouted, " Ugh, what did I do, what the hell did he put in me!?" 'blue' shouted, before his entire body rippled in tendrils, turning his body into a tendril ridden bipedal beast, the tendrils glowing a cyan, and his head turning into a reptilian, almost demon-like head, with 2 miniature versions attatched to tendrils on his back floated near. Tendrils rippled from his body in blind rage, tearing apart and consuming the gangsters, before turning into a building-sized version of himself, tearing apart and consuming everything in the city.

In another dimension, two cosmic figures watched 'blue' with extreme interest. The first one spoke, "we wouldn't have to do this if you hadn't killed Trace while trying to erase his memories, ephemural…" the second one spoke, "well, what's done is done. The die of fate has been cast, and we need someone of equal power to take his place, after all. Who know's? He might prefer this dimension to his, considering what happened…" "But he can't even use magic!" the other one protested. The second one chuckled darkly, before saying, "With this power, their won't be a single being that can stand against him but us. He doesn't NEED magic. In fact, I will have to repress this bestial form of his, just to make sure, but all his other power's will remain the same." "Fine" the first said, "Bring him. But if anything detrimental happens to affect the up-coming war, it's YOUR head!" the other being opened the trans-dimensional portal, "But of course, I know young Christian will not fail us" he stated.

The last thing Christian remembered was a blue hole opening up in the sky while he was consuming, sucking him in while he blacked out.

Deep in the forest, a prone blue figure lied sprawled on the ground. He rolled over and groaned, saying, "ah jeez, where am I? what the… the forest? Why am I… oh don't tell me that a part of that curse was that I can't leave, 'cause I burned that place to the ground." Suddenly, he heard a feminine voice shout HELP!, and the voice caused a sense of remembrance in him. Christian racked his brain, until he realized that the voice sounded exactly like… "AYA!" Christian shouted as he darted off towards the voice.

Meanwhile, at the origin point of the voice, a female tiger-keidran was cowering as a human came walking up to her, twirling a sword, saying, "hey, little keidran. Looks like your in a lot of trouble. These are human lands… and your heads worth quite a lot here. You'd be amazed what they'd pay for a hide like yours." As she was whimpering, she saw a blue figure barrel out of the forest. She looked him over, he was, judging by his height, exactly as tall as her, and probably the skinniest guy she had ever seen, at least she assumed it was a guy, she had ever seen, and she had seen malnourished keidran slaves, and was dressed in strange clothing she had never seen, and even stranger, all in blue. He spoke, "hey dude, what do you think your… WHAT THE HELL!?" he shouted and backed up against a tree. Christian had come running out of the forest hoping to see Aya, but instead saw a shady-looking guy threatening a… he didn't know what to call it. In basic terms, it resembled a hybrid between a tiger and a human. 'she's kinda hot, actually…' he thought. As he was shaking on the tree, the shady guy spoke, "what the hell is… what? The keidran?" Christian shook his head."A what?" he asked. Shady sighed. "look, I don't have time for this, tell you what, the keidran is yours seeya." With that, he turned and started walking, but turned his head to say,"Oh, and be careful, she's vicious. If I were you, I would kill her now." And with that, he walked out of sight. Christian turned to look at the wimpering tiger-thing. "vicious? She doesn't look that vicious… then again, dolls weren't vicious, but they tried to kill me with a knife… but nothing that looks so much like her could possibly… eh, whatever, um, seeya, weird, cat… tiger… thing… um, gonna go, don't even know if you understand me… so, yeah… bye…" He spotted a knapsack on the ground and grabbed it, and started walking away.

Flora looked at the leaving blue man…'he could have killed me or captured me, but he didn't… he stood up for me… no human has ever done that… he doesn't even know what I am and he still stood up for me' she thought to herself, than made up her mind running up to him and wrapping her arms around him to prevent him from leaving, shouting "NYA!" All the air left Christian's lungs, as he gasped out "BLARG!"

He had been walking for 5 hours with the cat thing following him, and he was still confused. Whether she liked him for saving her, or was trying to figure out the best way to eat him, he didn't know. Suddenly, he tripped on a branch, tumbling over on the ground with the tiger laughing. "very funny, whiskers" He commented, before seeing that they had walked into a clearing. "well, here seems to be as good place to rest as any" he said while setting up a sleeping bag. "well, according to this map, either were pretty close to a town, or it's a coffee stain, which wouldn't be the first time. So, I'm wondering, can you… AH!" He was turning around, then whipped back to where he was on seeing the tiger taking her green sweater off, and seeing that she was topless. "Okay, man, calm down, it's just an animal taking her sweater off… an incredibly hot animal…" he was muttering to himself when that same feminine voice he heard earlier piped up from the tiger thing, "I'm sorry, it's just that… this sweater irritates my fur…" she timidly said, causing Christian to turn around, and noticed that her, uh, credentials, were covered by fur, easing him, before he said, "well yeah, I can understand that, but… wait a minute. Wait, you can talk!?" he yelled at her. She seemed taken back. "well, yeah, I thought you knew…" she stated. He looked at her softly, at least she thought it was softness, considering she couldn't see anything but blackness above his nose, thanks to the hood. "I'm sorry for yelling, it's just… this is a little new for me… what's your name?" He asked. "Flora" she said. "Flora…" he repeated. "Cool name. so, anyway, 'corrdin to the map, the nearest town is that way, so…" he was cut off when he heard her say in a cold voice, "no". He turned to look at her, then saw she was on the ground, ready to pounce. "your not taking me to your city, human!" she snarled. Christian was quick to act. "Alright, alright, jeez, if you don't wanna go, you don't gotta go." He said. "Really?" She asked, seemingly at ease. "really"he repeated. She couldn't believe it, he wouldn't force her to… overwhelming joy filled her as she flung her arms around him, knocking them both to the ground. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She said. "uh, no problem?" he said. They layed there in the grass for a whole minute before Christian said, "Uh, this is kinda awkward, with you being naked and cuddling me…" he said. She ammedietly got up from him. "hey, Flora?" He asked. "Yeah?" she said. He held up a blanket for her to see. "I only got the one blanket… and I'm not really tired, so here, rest up." He said, tossing her the blanket. "a-are you sure?" she asked. This human was just full of surprises. "Yeah, positive" he chuckled, settling next to a tree. "I never really got your name" she said. He looked up. "it's Drevis. Christian Drevis." She rolled over into her sleeping bag. "Huh, weird name" she said. He only chuckled.

He waited for her to sleep before looking at his hand, black tendrils swirling in them, glowing blue. He muttered to himself, "Great, just great, Christian. You get your home burned down, entire family get's killed, got whatever this is in me, and now I'm some completely different universe with humans AND biped tigers." He said. He looked at Flora, saying, "and whose this girl? I know she's a different species, but she sounds and looks exactly like… Aya… glad she's asleep so she doesn't hear this." He looked at the calendar in the knapsack. "Heh, would you look at that… well, happy birthday to me…" He looked at the woods, muttering, "well, I need to go test the extent of what I can do with this… should be back in an hour, give or take… well, I'm off" he said, walking into the forest. Back at the sleeping bag, Flora was awake, Hearing every word he said. 'that poor human, lost all that… on his birthday? Wonder what happened to him to cause something like that… and whose Aya? Well, I guess I'll just ask him when he comes back from doing… whatever he's doing.' With that thought, Flora drifted off to sleep, unaware that a figure was watching her from a tree from above, waiting for the perfect moment to strike at the human…


	2. Chapter 2

**ANAMOLY**

**Chapter 2- Explanations**

Christian was walking out of the woods, having completed his tests of his abilities, and he had to say, it had been a strange time. Apparently, he was pretty much nigh-invincible. After snapping the neck of a bunch of animals, the tendrils in his back came out of him and pierced the animals, reducing them to biological matter and absorbing them. Upon doing that, he was able to transform into the animals and absorb their memories. That was painful, but eventually he got used to it. Transforming also met that he wasn't wearing cloths, he just had skin that looked like his blue clothes. 'oh well…' he thought. 'As long as I don't tell anyone, I should be alright.' And on using the biomass, he was actually able to form his arms into BLADED weapons, and upon being scratched by a tree branch, was able to regenerate. Being ever the risk taker, he even cut some of his limbs off, and they grew back immediately. On top off all that, he had an assortment of other powers, including some weird, viral sonar sense, super strength, not ever getting hungry or thirsty or tired, not breathing, and super speed. Unfortunately, he had one weakness. When he stepped into a puddle, his foot pretty much dissolved after a few seconds, which pretty much ruined swimming for him.

Christian walked back into camp, but found that it was empty. He shouted, "Flora! Hey, Flora! Where be she?" suddenly, he heard a rustling in a tree, and walked over to it. "…Flora?" He asked. "Not quite" he heard a menacing masculine voice say. "NOW DIE, HUMAN!" suddenly, a being very much like flora holding a spear lunged at Christian… sept he was a wolf variation. 'Oh come on, a WOLF!? What's next, Pumas?' He thought. When the blade was an inch from his face, he used his right hand to swat it out of the wolf's hand, used his right foot to kick him into a tree, then caught the spear and in a blur of blue, sprinted up to him and held the spear over his head, all under a second. "All righty then, I don't know what your problem is with me, but your going to answer some questions for me, okay?" The wolf growled at him. 'How did this human move that fast?' He thought. 'No-one can possibly move that fast. "Why would I answer anything for you human?" he asked.

"Uh, first rule of fighting, dude… dude with spear wins." Christian stated. "You made that up!" The wolf barked. Christian stuttered. "Uh… well, uh… you don't have evidence… oh, screw you, I got a spear and you don't, now question numeral uno: who are you?"

"Sythe" The wolf said.

"Well, Sythe, that wasn't so hard, was it? Now, next question: Why are you here?"

"To get back Flora" Sythe said. Christian gave him a cold stare, probably, since Sythe couldn't see anything but black above his nose thanks to the hood, and jabbed the spear in his neck, drawing a trickle of blood and eliciting a sharp yelp from Sythe. "why?" He asked in the coldest voice Sythe had ever heard. "Because we have an arranged marriage, you see our clans…" The blackness if Christian's hood started to glow red, and he lifted the spear off Syth's neck. "Stop" he said. "Change of plans: I'm gonna have to kill you."

"What!?" Sythe said, but it was too late. Christian thrusted the spear down, and Sythe closed his eyes. Suddenly he heard Someone shout "STOP!" he opened his eyes to see the spearhead a centimeter away from his eye, and looked over to see Flora. "What are you doing?" She asked the human. He turned his head to her. "Uh… murdering Sythe?" she started to walk over to him while asking, "why?"

"Because he jumped out of the tree with a spear and tried to spear me and…"

"And that gives you a reason to murder him?" She asked. "Uh… yes?" BONK! She hit him square on the head. "OW! What the hell was that for!?" He yelled. She looked sweetly at him. "Would you just let me have a word with him?" She asked. "Are you nuts? He tried TO KILL ME!" She gave puppy-dog eyes. "Please?" She asked. The red left from under his hood, replacing it with black. "Oh, all right…" He leaned on a tree while they conversed in a language he didn't understand. 'What the… oh great, they speak a different language that I don't understand… I would if I had eaten Sythe, but she probably wouldn't let me. In fact, if I did that, she would probably run away screaming.' While he was thinking, Flora and Sythe conversed. "Sythe, what are you doing?" She asked.

" Rescuing you from that human! Now come on, we need to…" He was cut off by Flora. " I don't need rescuing! I'm staying with the human."

"What!? Why!?" He yelled. Flora started, "This human has shown more compassion than the people that arranged our marriage! He saved me from a hunter, didn't kill me or capture me and turn me into a slave, and has overall been really nice to me! You've never done any of that!" 'Whatever she is yelling at, I hope it's in my favor' Christian thought. She was really getting at it. Sythe piped up, "Flora, he could be alluding you! He could be a Templar! You should have seen how fast he moved! No-one can possibly move that fast without magical aid!" What Christian had said still rang through her head. He had lost his family, and said some other pretty crazy stuff, and thought she was asleep… no. A templar would have never done that. " I… I just know, okay? And I'm grown up. I can handle myself, Sythe. Besides, you don't even want this marriage… and I don't know how Christian over-powered you, but he was pretty close to killing you, and if you want, I can sick him on you" She said with a smirk. "Christian? What kind of name is that?… but it doesn't matter. Fine, Flora. You can travel with him. I leave this up to you… I'll find something to say to the council" Sythe said. "Thanks, Sythe"

"Yeah, just, leave… now. But have Christian punch me, I gotta make it look like I didn't go down without a fight"

"Oh, sweet sassy malassy, hurry the hell up!" Christian yelled. " Heh, were done, Christian, he just wants you to punch him so it looks like you two fought."

"But we did fight. It was pathetic, but it was a fight."

"Just punch me, Christian. And don't hold back." Sythe said. Christian walked up to Sythe and reared his fist. "Don't hold back, huh? Dude, big mistake…" He hit Sythe, and to make sure his head didn't explode, he held back most of his strength… which caused him to fly fifty feet. He would have went further, but he hit a tree, and slumped to the ground unconscious. "Christian!" Flora yelled. Christian looked at her sheepishly. "What?" He said. "He said not to hold back… actually I did so he wouldn't die, but at least now he won't follow us." he said. "B…wha… oh fine, can we just go?" She asked? "Sure" Christian replied, and together they started walking towards town.

Christian and Flora were walking to town, when Flora spoke up. "Do we really have to go to a human city?" she asked.

"Yeah" he said. "Were out of supplies, and the map we have only shows the one town. Why?"

"Well, it's just… human and keidran don't really get along. They treat us as slaves."

"What?" asked Christian. Flora gave him an accusing stare. "That's pretty common knowledge, Christian."

"Well… I'm not really from here…"

"Yeah" she said. "I know. What was that whole "not from this world" thing you said?"

"… you weren't supposed to hear that." Christian said glumly. "I'm from a world where keidran don't exist, and it was 2012 at the time. I don't know what year it is, but since everyone uses swords, I'm gonna guess somewhere in the 400's. Last thing I remember is some blue hole appearing in the sky and sucking me in, then I woke up in the woods and found you" He looked at her sorrowly. What he was about to say was the biggest lie he had ever said. "When I said I lost my family, I met… their in another world, and their fine, and okay… and will probably live a better life… so yeah, I don't really expect you to believe me, but I swear, that's the truth." Flora looked at him saddly, and her ear's drooped. "Wow… That's pretty crazy, but since you don't know what keidran or basitins are, I guess I'll have to tell you while we walk." Christian nodded. "Yeah, I guess that… wait basitins?"

"You'll know 'em when you see 'em. Now, your right, it is late 400, and there are three species: human, keidran, and basitin. Keidran are separated into tigers, wolves, dogs, and foxes…"

"Wait, what's the difference between a dog and a wolf? Their practically the same!"

"Don't interupt me. Now, there is the king and the main army, yadda yadda yadda, but then there are the templar's, a army of magic weilding humans…" Christian cut her off. "Magic?" He asked. "You don't have magic where you come from?"

"I didn't believe it, till that one night…"

"The night you got sucked through the hole thing?"

"…Yeah. Continue."

"Anyway, the templar's were overthrown by Trace Legacy, the most powerful magic user ever, who hated keidran, and antagonized us. Any lone keidran were sold into slavery, and were generally antagonized. Were hated."

"That asshole" Christian said.

"Yeah. He was fighting one of the masks, sort of our gods, ephemural, and died, but the templar survived, and were still hated. Don't you have slaves were you come from?"

"Used to. Black people used to be slaves, but then weren't for like, three hundred years."

"Must be nice not being a slave, where you come from."

"Not really. A lot of poverty and millions starving. Weapons of mass destruction capable of killing millions, and people willing to use them… have used them… I like it here better. It's simpler. More peaceful… er, sort of. Sides, I grew up in a mansion in the middle of the woods with no contact with others but my family, so this isn't anything new to me. You wouldn't like it where I come from."

"Oh…" Flora said saddly.

"… you were a slave, weren't you Flora?" Christian asked.

"Yeah, but the humans whom owned me treated me more like a daughter, but the human I was dating broke up with me, so I escaped and a wandering keidran found me dying, and took care of me for years, one thing lead to another, and a the tiger and wolf clans are on the brink of war, and I was supposed to marry Sythe to stop it, but my caravan was attacked, and.. You pretty much saved me."

"Ah. Wait, you can have a relationship with other species?"

"Not since Trace came into power, but some people do it secretly"

"Huh… so, do you want to go back with your own kind? To marry that guy and stop a war?"

"Not really. I don't like Sythe, and our clans have been in peace for years. There's no-way we'll go to war. I'd rather just travel with you."

"So… Does that mean you like me?" Flora put on a flustered look. "What!? Me!? No! Were… just traveling."

"Oh. I see…" Christian felt kinda bad. He had lied to her about his past, while she had basically spewed her entire life story to him. But she could never know… she would think he was a freak. He was, but she didn't need to know. "So…" Flora said. "Who's Aya?"

"Uhhh…" Oh God. She asked him THAT. He didn't want to answer that. It hurt too much. Fortunatly, the town came into view. "I would love to answer that, Flora, but were here!"

"But…"

"I'll answer you later, okay? You sure you want to stay here?"

"Yeah" she said. "Alright, stay here, I'll be back in a half hour or so, K?"

"K" And with that, Christian walked into town while Flora climbed into a tree to wait for him.

"Ah, jeez there's so many buildings… least I got the supplies… might as well go into this tavern for something taverny and then go get Flora something. What do keidran even like? A ball of yarn? Nah, girls like jewelry, or… I don't know… screw it, here, than the jewelry store over there." Christian was mulling over what to get Flora. He had gone into town for some supplies, and gotten a bright blue backpack to put it all in. When he walked up to the tavern, he noticed a sign that said "NO KEIDRAN ALLOWED" written on it. "Racist assholes" Christian muttered as he walked into the tavern and was greeted by… okay, he didn't know what the hell greeted him. It was like a girl version of his obsession of blue, except green, and she was a mix of human and keidran. "The hell…" Christian muttered as he was greeted by the cheery girl. "Hey! Welcome to our little tavern what would you like?" She said. "Uh… a lot of drinks to go…" He said before he heard a thump in the backroom. "Heh, stupid animal…" He heard someone say. Christian was gone in a flash to the backroom, leaving the green girl stuped. When he got their, he saw a… no, it wasn't a keidran, what was…'oh screw it, I'll figure it out later' He thought as a red haired man brought down an axe on him. In a blue blur, trailing black and blue tendrils, he grabbed a nearby sword off a rack and ran up to them, holding the blade out and stopping the axe. "What the hell, how did you do that!? What are you doing!?" the red haired guy asked. "Stopping a murder" Christian simply stated. "That voice…" the guy said before Christian used the butt of the sword to hit Red in the chest, sending him flying in the wall. "Well, that's taken care of. Dude, you okay?" He asked the guy… probably a guy… that was about to get axed. "Yeah" he said in a nuetral tone. "How did you do that so fast?" he asked. "Uh… quick reflexes. You wanna talk outside?" Christian asked. "Sure he said as they walked out. Back in, the red guyed stirred. "That voice… that was Trace!" He yelled as green and some dark blue haired woman came in. "What!?" They both asked. "Look, I know that voice anywhere, and did you see all that blue he had? No-one but Trace wears that much blue. We gotta get him, C'mon!" He said, but then groaned. "He hit you pretty hard" Green said. "Let's get you to the hospital, then go after him, okay?" Red nodded.

Outside, Christian and the furry dude were talking. "Yeah, so thanks again" Said furry. "Ugh, and again, your welcome, mister…"

"Just call me Keith" he said. "Alright, Keith, so what are you doing out here?"

"Well, I was looking for the grand templar, Trace, but apparently he died, and while staying at the tavern, got into some trouble and then you came here" Keith explained. "Why do you want that asshole?" Christian asked. "Political problem where I come from. I needed to get him, but now I'm stuck…"

"I can solve your political problem!" Christian said. "Wha… you? What can you do, and why?" Keith asked. "Well, me and the girl I'm traveling with aren't really doing anything, and so aren't you, so… if she says yes, why not? 'Sides, I'm good at politics" Christian lied. He didn't know a thing about politics, but he was bored. 'Ugh, I can't just bring a human into… but then again, I can't go back without Trace, and he's dead, so it really is my best bet' Keith thought, than said, "Fine, but I warn you, I'm not responsible for what happens their"

"Who ever is?" Christian asked. "Okay" Keith said, "I need to go and get some supplies. Meet me at the edge of town in five"

"K" Christian said as Keith walked away. 'Time to hit the jewelry store' Christian thought as he walked towards it. When he walked in, he was greeted by a man in brown clothing and hair with sharp features and blue eyes. "Yo, man, need some uh, jewel-like thing. You got something like that?"

"hmmm…" the jewel man pondered. "Well, I do have this…" He pulled out a glowing blue gem attached to a string. "…It's called a subtle-stone. It's sure to woo…" He was cut off by Christian. "You had me when I saw it was blue. How much?" He asked. "Well, for you, free." The jewel man chuckled. "Free? What, am I the millionth customer?" Christian asked. "Sure, something like that…" said jewel man as he tossed it to Christian, who caught it. "Well, thanks dude" he said and walked out. "Why, your very welcome…" Jewel man chuckled darkly.

'Oh, jeez, where's Christian?' Flora wondered as she sat in a tree. 'Oh, I don't even know why I'm doing this. I should be home, getting married! But, when I'm think of Christian…' an image of her and Christian getting married popped in her head. "What am I thinking!?" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "I havn't thought thoughts like that since I was a slave…" The sound of Christian's voice filled her ears. "Flora! Yo, Flora! There better not be another dude with a spear in a tree…" Flora leaned from a branch. "oh, it's Christian. Better go say hi"

"So who exactly is this Flora?" Keith asked Christian as they walked out of town. "Oh, yeah, Flora, she's a…" he was cut off when Flora came up smiling and waving, saying, "Hi, Christian!" Keith stuck his hand out. "Christian, get behind me! A keidran!" Keith shouted, before drawing his sword and rushing Flora. "Keith, the hell you doing?!" Christian shouted. "Nya?" Flora meowed weakly. His reflexes kicking in, and rushed Keith in a blur of blue, catching the flat sides of the blade between his hands as he brought it down on Flora. "What the… Christian what are you doing!? And how did you move that fast!?"

"What am I doing? What are you doing!? Christian yelled. "I was just trying to kill that mangy feline" Keith said. "Why?! Aren't you both Kieran's?" Christian asked. While they were talking, Flora saw a butterfly float past and softly meowed. "I am not a keidran! I am a basitin! We are two different races! Her race are nothing but monsters! We should just kill her now! I mean, just look at her! She's the pure essence of evil!" Keith shouted, as Flora shouted "BUTTERFLY!" And playfully chased a blue butterfly. Keith and Christian just stared. "You see… what'd I tell ya… pure… evil…" Keith said. "Yeah, pure evil Keith. While were at it, you wanna go fight some lovely flowery medows?" Christian retorted. "Look, I'm not going anywhere without Flora, so like it or not, Your stuck with her" Keith started walking off. "Fine, I'll go with the keidran, but Christian… their kind are dangerous. She'll probably kill you the moment she gets it" Keith stated. "I'd like to see her try" Christian muttered. "What?" Flora asked, returning. "Nothing. C'mon" Christian said, but then stopped. "Oh, yeah, almost forgot, got you something." He said. "Mer?" Flora meowed. "Yeah, uh… where is it, oh, here" He held out the subtle-stone. "MEEAAARR!" Flora yelled. "what? You don't like it…" Christian said. Flora looked at the stone. "Well… yeah, I DO want it!" she snatched it, and the gem shocked both of them. "OW!" Christian yelled. 'I guess this virus can't deal with electricity, either' Christian thought. 'Oh, man, I can't believe… well, he couldn't have known, he's not from here, he didn't know those stones are used in human marriage… but I didn't think they were actually magic and actually DID something! Oh well, it probably doesn't work if I don't wear it… I'll just take it off later' Flora thought. "Thanks, Christian" She said. "No prob" He replied. and after that, the three of them started walking.

The three of them were at a camp at night. Flora was drinking some ale Christian picked up at the tavern, and Christian and Keith were talking. "I still can't believe you caught TWELVE rabbits in five minutes" Keith said. Christian had gone hunting, and using his whipfist, one of his blade arm things that turned his arm into a bladed rope, and his viral sonar, he had caught them all for dinner. And to scare Keith, he had taken a live crow and stuffed the entire thing in his mouth, swallowing it and consuming it when it reached his mid-section. "And ate that crow" he continued. "You know how wrong that was? I don't even see how you could have possibly done that. You know how sick your gonna be?"

"Keith, I eat crows all the time. I built up an immunity." After seeing all the crows at the tables at the mansion, Christian kinda grew a loving compassion towards them. They sure did calm Aya a lot, for some reason… and for that he was grateful. "I don't see how…" Keith muttered. Flora piped up, "Ah! T'anks for da drink, Chrissy! Ya know, Isn't camping out here fun? We shoul' do it more often, huh?" Christian and Keith both looked at her. "Uh, Christian? What drink did you give her?" Keith asked. "Uh, the… what was it… um, distilled ale?"

"Hah! You mean **human **ale. Keidran can't handle much of that stuff" Keith said. "Now you tell me" Christian muttered, before Flora draped her arms around Christian. "Haha! You has blue, short fur. You're a human! I haves orange fur. I's keidran!" Flora drunkenly said. "Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you, what is with the blue clothes? You never take them off" Keith asked. "What? I like blue. And there clean!" Christian said. "And the hood? I can't even see anything above your nose. What's with that?"

"It's just special, okay?"

"You ever gonna put it down so we can see what you look like?"

"No"

"He has weird head, he hath no eyes ecept whens dey glo red!" Flora chirped.

"…let me try something" Keith said. "Hey, Flora. What do you think of me and Christian?"

"Huh? Chrissy? I like him. I kno I shouldn't, bu he's nice to me" She looked accusingly at Keith. "Oh, and you? You're just a jerk!"

"Heh, Thanks for sticking up for me, Flora" Christian said. "Welcome'ese! Flora said. "Yeah, your gonna be hammered in the morning. C'mon, Flora, let's get you to bed"

"Yay, bed!" Flora shouted. He picked her up, his left arm going under her knees and his right arm under her arms, and she draped her right arm over his neck as he carried her to her tent. "How's 'bout you come to bed wits me?" She asked. "Yeah, no" Christian said. "Awww…" Flora whined as Christian layed her in her tent and she passed out, Keith going to his tent and doing the same, And Christian just standing there because he didn't need sleep, until he heard a rustling in a bush, and realising it was Sythe by utilizing his viral sonar, lept into a tree to watch events unfold. 'This oughta be interesting…' Christian thought as he watched…


	3. Chapter 3

**ANOMALY**

**Episode 3- Is it really love?**

Christian and Flora were walking out of the woods, when Christian spoke, "Man, that took forever! I thought I would have to live on a diet of crows for the rest of my life! Nice to be in the open again, eh Flora?" he looked over too see Flora turned around, and sad-looking. "Flora? Earth to Flora, or whatever this planet is called… Flora?" Flora spoke in a sad voice, "Christian, I… I can't…"

"Flora, are you okay?" she turned around to face Christian, tears in her eyes. "Christian, I can't take it anymore!" she said as pink leaves blew by. "Take what, Flora? And where the hell did these pink leaves come from?"

"Please…" she said, then threw her green sweatshirt off, making her naked, before saying, "Make love to me, Christian!"

"What!?" Christian yelled wide-eyed, before throwing herself at him. Christian acted fast, the blackness that his hood shrouded glowing red, and black and blue tendrils swirling along his right arm, turning it into a giant double-sided arm blade as big as him, before ramming the blade into Flora, and lifting her off the ground. "W…why?" she asked weakly. "So…" Christian said, his tone turning manic, "You wish to dirty yourself before I can preserve you, Aya? That… I cannot allow!" He said, then grabbed her by the neck and slid the blade out of her, eliciting a crying sound from Flora, while still holding her in the air, brought the blade down at her, maniacal cackling echoing while the entire thing took place…

Flora's eyes shot open, and she sat up quickly, before clutching her head in pain. "OW! My head!" she yelled, than remembered the dream. "Just a nightmare… but why did I dream of something like that… wait, how did I get into my tent? Ugh, I don't remember anything from last night… Christian probably carried me here…" suddenly, she heard a voice outside the tent whisper, "Pssst! Flora!" the voice shouted. Flora crawled out her tent to see Sythe standing there. "Sythe, what are you doing here? Do you know what Christian would do if he knew you were here?"

'_Too late' _Christian thought while he watched from the tree.

"Flora, I must talk to you alone" Sythe said. "Uh… okay" Flora said and they walked off, with Christian stealthily following them from the treetops. Five minutes later, they stopped in the middle of the woods, the camp out of site. An annoyed Flora asked, "Alright, Sythe, this is far enough. What is it?" Sythe turned to look at her. "Flora…" he started, "You must kill Christian. NOW!" he said. Flora looked shocked. "Whaaa? Why!?" she asked. _'That son of a bitch' _Christian thought.

"Why!? He's a human! Should their be any other reason?" Sythe asked. "No! I'm not gonna do it!" Flora yelled. "Look" Sythe said, "We need to get married. This human is getting in the way. He'll expect me. Kill him in his sleep, and let's go" Flora was about to say something, when she saw some red glowing in a tree. _'Red…' _She thought, then gasped. "Sythe, look out!" She yelled, before Christian flew out of the tree, plummeting towards Sythe. Sythe jumped out of the way, and Christian pounded the ground where he was standing, leaving a crater where his fist impacted the earth. "Sythe…" Christian said, looking up at him, "I'm gonna kill you!" he sprinted towards Sythe, but Sythe reacted, plunging the spear he had into Christian's chest. Christian looked down at the wound, and laughed. Maniacally. The same laugh Flora heard in her dream. Christian pulled the spear out of his chest, spraying blood, and tossed it at Sythe's feet. "It's gonna take a lot more than one spear to stop me" Christian said. "So, you wish to take Flora away from me, Sythe… That… I CANNOT ALOW!" Christian yelled, and that triggered fear in Flora. She bolted into the woods, leaving behind Sythe and Christian. The red of Christian's hood's shadow turned black, and Christian shouted, "FLORA! Where are you going!?" Suddenly, Keith appeared out of the brush and said, "Christian! What's going on!?"

"This guy was trying to convince Flora to kill me, and she bolted!" Christian said. "That keidran of a traitor!" Keith stated, "Well, at least we finally got rid of that bitch" Christian's hood shadow glowed red, and he punched Sythe into a tree, knocking him out, again, before taking Keith by the collar of his shirt and picked him up with one hand. "Whoa, Christian, what are you…" Keith didn't finish. Christian reared back, and threw Keith into the tallest tree he spotted. "AAAHHHH!" Keith screamed before he hit the top of the tree and clung on for dear life. "Hang in there, baby" Christian muttered, before his hood shadow turned back black, and he bolted into the woods for Flora.

Flora was running for dear life, thinking to herself, _'No… I ran. Why did I run? He was only trying to protect me… now he's gonna think I was gonna try to kill him… what am I gonna do? Why am I confused over some human? I wonder what he'll do if he finds me…'_

Worst case: Christian looked at Flora, his hood shadow glowing red, "Flora, you betrayed me… now I'm gonna do to you what I did to that crow!"

Best case: Christian looked at Flora, his hood shadow black, "Hey, Flora, I killed Keith and Sythe. Wanna have sex?"

While she was thinking, Flora tripped on a branch and fell down. "Ow…" she moaned. While she layed their, Christian was looking for her. "Flora?" Christian called out. He used viral sonar and found her laying down, injured. "Flora!" he yelled, and bolted to her. When he came upon her, he spoke, "Flora, are you okay?" he used viral sonar to look at her foot, and saw how badly it was injured. "Oh, no… your foot is really bad…"

"Please, just go away…" Flora moaned. "Why? Why did you run away? Flora please tell me why!" Christian pleaded. Flora sighed. "It's just… I had a bad dream about you where your arm turned into a giant blade… and you stabbed me, and… and you… you did that same maniacal laugh you did with Sythe… I was afraid… and I was considering on killing you… like I said, our races are at war… at first I was taking advantage of your ignorance, but then I started to get to know you and… I just don't want to betray you now… I don't… I don't know what to do…"

'_She had dreamt about my blade… but how? Does that rock around her neck do more than just show her emmotions? Did my virus interfere with it and cause some of my memories to leak into her…?' _Christian was thinking and saw tears streaming down her face. He put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Look, Flora… I don't know where you got that dream, but I'm sorry for freaking you out, and…" he leaned over to her and hugged her, eliciting a gasp from Flora. "I forgive you… and I don't blame you. I know what it's like to be manipulated by others. I just don't want you to leave… you're the only thing left that reminds me of…" his hood shadow glowed blue when he remembered, then back to black when he stopped and rethunk his words, "Just please come back with me, okay?"

"But Christian… I… ah…. Thanks… I will…"

"Thanks" Christian said. They sat their for a minute, before Flora said, "What happened to your wound?" She asked. "Oh, uh… healing spell thing I learned… mends cloths, too" he said. Then she asked, "B… but what about Keith?"

"Oh, Keith… I… kindamaybesortathrewhimintoatreecausehecalledyouab itchandthatgotmemad…" Christian said. Flora looked at him and BONK! "OW… Flora!"

"Get him down!" Flora yelled. Christian walked off, muttering, "K…"

"Ah, jeez, I can't believe he THREW me into a tree…" Keith said as he held to the top of the tree. "Hey, Keith" he heard Christian say from behind him. He whipped around and saw Christian balancing from the top of a tree behind him on his feet. "Flora made me get you down, so c'mon"

"How exactly are you…" Christian cut Keith off and jumped towards him, grabbing him in his arms and falling down the tree. "Were gonna die!" Keith shouted as they plummeted, then Christian hit the ground, completely unharmed, and threw Keith down. "Alright, I need to go get Flora, make your way back to camp" Christian said while walking off. 'How am I not dead?' Keith thought, before shrugging, getting up, and walking back to camp.

A little while later, all three of them were back at camp, and Christian was bandaging Flora's foot in a tent. "Alright" Christian said, admiring his handiwork, "So how does that feel?" Flora winced and hissed… which sounded a lot cooler because she's a tiger Christian thought. "Ah! Cahrmehs Ab'liun! Ryuin Ar'liun!" Flora said in her native tongue. "Uh…what?" Asked Christian. "It hurts, ya dope!" Yelled Flora. _'Was hoping I wouldn't have to do this…' _thought Christian, then said, "Alright, I'm gonna do something, close your eyes"

"Why?"

"Just do it" he activated his viral sonar, and located what parts of her foot were broken. "W…w-why are your eyes… I think your eyes… glowing yellow?" Flora asked. "I said close your, ah, screw it…" Christian said. "It's a… uh… another spell I picked up… it allows me to see the anatomy of anything in a mile radius" Christian explained. "Oh… wait, are you using that to see my breasts?" Flora asked. "Uh, wha… no… I would never… okay, maybe I sneaked a glance…" BONK! "OW! Okay, I'm sorry! Jeez, here, let me…" Using viral sonar, he saw the bones in Flora's foot that were broken, and used one hand to position the bones so she wouldn't feel anything while giving the other foot a foot massage as an apology for peeping at her. "Oh my… wooow, Christian, my foot has never felt… just… wow…" Flora moaned. _'Heh, I'm good' _Christian thought, before saying, "Well, when your dad's a scientist, and you got x-ray eyes, you tend to know what pressure points in your foot make you feel REALLY nice" Christian explained. He stopped after fixing Flora's foot, to which Flora said, "Awww… can't you do more?" She all but begged. "Heh, maybe later, look, my doctor skills are awesome, but if I hadn't been there, we would have to have cut your foot off" Christian said. "WHAT!?" Flora screamed. Christian held up his hands, saying, "But I made it so the process is slow, and you won't be able to feel anything… we need to get you to a doctor with healing meds to fix your foot properly, because we ain't got squat here that can" Christian explained. "You mean a cleric?" Flora asked. "Yeah, whatever… I'm gonna have to carry you"

"What!? But the closest cleric is in a human city! And you can't carry me all the way!" She argued. "Watch me. And if anybody gives us problems while were there, I'll rip their middle fingers off and shove them through their eye sockets" Christian said. Flora looked at him in shock. "Christian! I thought you said you wouldn't act crazy anymore!" She said, tears welling in her eyes. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry, please just don't cry…" Christian said. Flora smiled, "Okay" She said. "What the- oh, why you… ugh, here get on…" He motioned for Flora to climb on his back, and she did so, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. "You alright?" she asked. "Yeah, you weigh less than a feather" He said. "Hey!" BONK! "OW, Flora, what the hell, I was being serious! It was a compliment!"

"Oh… sorry…" Flora said. "it's alright" Christian said, then walked out of the tent. Saying Flora weighed less than a feather was a lie. She weighed LESS than that. If it wasn't for the warmth of her hands, he wouldn't even notice she was there. "Keith, s'go!" Christian shouted. "Coming!" Keith said, than ran out of a tent, his blue backpack with all their supplies in it. "Did you really NEED to buy a blue backpack?" Keith asked. "What?" Christian asked. "It matches your shirt"

"Let's just go" Keith said.

A couple of hours of walking later, Keith asked, "Christian, you need a break?"

"Nah, I'm good" Christian said. "You've been carrying Flora for hours now. Surely your tired"

"Nope!" Christian said. "And besides" Flora said, "I like the view"

"Christian, I have to ask you, seeing as your not even tired from carrying Flora so long and you actually threw me up the tallest tree in the woods… how are you so strong?" 'Crap' Christian thought. "Ugh… a lot of muscle and no fat. At all. Zero percent fat in my body"

"That's impossible. You need SOME fat to live. And you don't have any muscle. If I tore your arm off, a wedding ring would fit on your bicep"

"Would not…" Christian muttered. He was about to make up an obvious lie to how he was the skinniest yet strongest guy in the world, when Flora piped up, "Hey, I see the city across the trees"

"What's with the red techno tower thingy?" Christian asked. "Templar barracks. My people call them towers. They started building them around when Trace came into power. My people think there used as some kind of weapon"

"Ah" Christian said. In the middle of the city, there was a black tower taller than any of the buildings, with blue symbols and red billboard-like things attached to it. No, wait… they were actually floating around it with no support. _'magic' _thought Christian. "Is it okay that I walk now?" asked Flora. "Were at the city, so sure, why?" Christian asked. Flora got off and walked over to Keith, opening the backpack he had. "It'll be easier if me and Keith act as your slaves, so tie us up" Christian looked flustered. "W-wha!? Slave!? NO!"

"I hate to say this, but I agree with the keidran. It's the only way to look inconspicuous" Keith said. "I don't mind, really" Flora said. "Fine…" Christian grumbled.

They were walking through the city now, Keith and Flora both bound in ropes held by Christian. Keith, being a basitin, wanted to keep his cloths on, but flora had taken hers off. "This is humiliating" Keith said. "You think I like it any better?" Christian asked. "Your one to talk. Your holding the ropes" Keith retorted. "Hey, look, a dude in a white robe. Either he'll heal you or try to kill us"

"Kill us?" Flora asked. "Bad experience with dudes in white coats" they pushed through the crowds and met the with-robbed man. "Hey, uh… if it's not much trouble, I was wondering if you could heal my keidran… slave" said Christian. White robe said, "What is this? Do I look like a vet? I don't heal keidran. Who do you think you are?"

"Hold this for a second, would you Flora?" Christian asked. "Sure…" She replied. He gave her the rope, then used one hand to pick white robe guy up, his hood shadow glowing red, and turned the hand not holding him towards him, turning his middle finger into a metal-looking claw, extending it, and saying in a cold voice, "I'll tell you who I am. I'm the guy that will cut your vocal chords and all your pain pressure points out, then leave you to bleed out in an alley, unless you heal her. Clear?" White robe nodded very fast. "Good" Christian reverted to normal, and dropped him. "So, will he heal me?" Flora asked as Christian took the rope back. "Yeah, I… 'convinced' him" Christian said. "What'd you tell him?" Flora asked. "Oh, I told him he could sleep with Keith if he healed you" Christian said. "WHAT!?" Keith yelled. "Just kidding, jeez. How I convinced him doesn't matter" Christian said. "Keith, what did he say?" asked Flora. "He said he would cut his vocal chords and pain pressure points out and leave him bleeding in an alley" Keith said. "These ears ain't just for show"

"The hell, Keith!?" Christian shouted. "You made fun of me sleeping with a dude!" Keith retorted. "Christian, I thought I said no-more crazy talk!" Flora shouted, then raised her fist. "NO! Please don't bonk me!" Christian pleaded. "Oh, Alright" She said with a smirk. "Can we just go into my clinic?" White robe guy said. "Sure" Christian said, and they all walked off.

White robe guy and Flora were in a clinic, getting her foot looked at. Keith and Christian wandered out to go look at stuff, and she told them she would find them when she was done. "There" white robe guy said, "Good as new. You know, I bet your owner is fixing you up for the festival tomorrow. I've been looking for a good keidran slave, and I've never seen one quite as beautiful as you. If I happen to buy you, I promise I won't push you too hard. Your body is almost perfect for the job… besides the fact that your breasts are so small" BONK! Flora stormed out of the clinic looking for Christian, leaving behind an unconscious cleric.

"Dude, that cat is looking at me"

"It is not"

"Yeah, it has glowing yellow eyes and it's looking at us"

"Uh-huh"

"Damnit, Keith, what the hell is so interesting about that sword display!?"

"Swordsmanship is an art"

"No, balancing on the tip of a tree with one foot is an art. You try doing that!"

"I did"

"And you failed. What, were you gonna try to hop from tree-to-tree?"

"…maybe"

"Meh, that's legit I guess"

Keith and Christian were conversing in the market square. Keith was looking at a sword display, and Christian turned around to look. "Dude, their broke. I mean, what's the point…" Suddenly, Flora popped out of nowhere, asking, "Christian, are my breasts too small?" causing Christian to bash his head through the display window. He pulled his head out and looked at her, saying, "Wha?! No, I don't think… NO!" Flora gasped. "Christian, I there's a shard of glass going I think through your eye…" Christian raised his hand to it. "Huh? Oh, eh…" He pulled the shard out and threw it away. "Uh, are you okay?" Keith asked. "Yeah, I'll heal it later. Flora, your breasts are fine. There not as big as my mom's, but then again no-one's was…" he took a look at Flora's face. "Fuck me…" BONK! Flora grabbed his hand and dragged him away, saying, "Oh, what do you know? You're a guy. Come on! I need to compare with someone!"

"For the love of god… masks… whatever, Keith, help me!" Christian pleaded. "Nah" Keith said as Flora dragged Christian away.

Christian watched as Flora, with a towel but naked, Walked into the bath house from a rooftop, and say that same black and white cat looking at him. "Weirdo" he muttered, than looked at the other girls in the bath house. "Well, Flora's gonna be disappointed about her breasts, that's for certain… still can't believe she wouldn't let me kill that bouncer and I had to 'talk to him'… least Keith wasn't their to tell her I pricked him for some of his blood to take his memories, than told him personal information about all his loved ones and the unique ways I would torture them if he didn't let her in… wait a minute. Aren't those the same girls from the tavern?"

In the tower, Father and Daughter conversed. "Father, the one from the other dimension is here"

"So, neutral succeded? That's a first"

"Father, will he try and hurt you?"

"Don't you worry, dear, he doesn't even know of us. Now, we have a festival to attend to tomorrow, go to bed and get some rest"

"Yes, father"

'_Although, if he did intend to harm us, he would have no trouble…' _Father thought

Back at the bath house, Christian was at the edge of a pool in the men's section, loathing at the water. _'Screw you, water' _Christian thought, until he heard someone shout "TRACE!"

"Wha…?" he looked to see the red haired guy from the tavern that almost killed Keith grab his arm and drag him over to the woman's section. "Trace! I don't believe it! We've been looking all over for you!"

"What the hell… I'm not…"

"No time! Come on! We know about your memory loss. We'll have you back to your Keidran-hating self in no time!"

"Damnit, I didn't lose my memory to begin with!" Red dragged him into the girls bath house in front of the other girls from the tavern, plus a white one, and Flora. Red said, "Girls! Guess what? I found Trace-" He stopped when he saw that they were all naked, except for a towel, except Flora, who was all out naked. "Damnit, Dude, let go of me!" Christian was struggling with Red, until he tripped… and fell into the pool. _'Aw, crap…' _he thought, before falling in the water. PAIN. That's all that came to Christian's mind as he burst out of the pool, screaming in pain. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHGGGGGG! OH, GOD IT BURNS! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHGGGGG!" his skin was bubbling, even his cloths were bubbling, and seemingly melting, and blood was pooling around his convulsing body. "CHRISTIAN!" Flora shouted as she got out of the pool and ran over to his body. "Christian, wha…what happened…?" She could see bones… his ribcage all but melted, and his hood melted… along with his face. _'Damn, when is he gonna show me his face?' _Flora thought. "F…Fl…Flora…" Christian gurgled, than stood up, and stumbled to the door. _'Need to get away from her and consume someone, NOW'. _"Hey Trace, stop! You need a cleric!" Red got in his way, and Christian swatted him away, sending him flying into a wall. He stumbled out into a hallway, where a man in a towel saw him and screamed, "ZOMBIE!" His voice hurt Christian. He grabbed his throat and ripped it out, killing and consuming the man. While he regenerated, He slumped to a wall and fell down, unconscious.

When Flora found him, he was fully regenerated, but unconscious. She ran over to him, knealing over him and shaking him awake. "Christian! Christian, please wake up! Christian!" Christian stirred, and looked up at her… probably. _'Damn that hood…'_ Flora thought. "Ugh, Flora… what happened?" Flora hugged him, teary-eyed. "Oh, Christian, that guy pushed you into the pool and you were melting and… and I thought…" Christian pulled her away and spoke in an even tone, "Look, Flora, I'm fine… just a little winded…" BONK! "'A little winded!?' You were melting, Christian! Why were you melting, and how are you okay!?"

"Look, I'll explain later, c'mon, I wanna get away from those guys"

"But…"

"**Later**, okay?" He asked. "Fine" with that, they ran out of the bath house.

Back in the bath house, Red stirred. "Did you guys see that?" He said, "The keidran put a curse on him that make it so he melts when he touches water! We gotta go after them!" When all the girls nodded, they got dressed and searched for 'Trace.'

Christian and Flora were running through the streets as it started to rain. "Christian, why are we running?"

"Because I wanna get away from those guys before they do anything else detrimental to my health! Look, there's a tavern, we can check in there!"

"What about Keith?"

"Screw him! He can sleep in a cardboard box, we'll find him later! Ow, ow, ow… man, fuck water and fuck rain!"

"Oh, just perfect, it's starting to rain! Come on, let's take cover from the storm in that tavern!" Red said to the girls as they ran after 'Trace'.

"Guys, where are you? Oh well, I'm not gonna find them in this storm, might as well stay at that tavern for now" Keith said as he sloshed towards the tavern.

Christian and Flora walked into the tavern, and were greeted by… "Wait, haven't I seen you from somewhere before… oh, never mind, I was wondering if I could have a room, please?"

"Oh, certainly, I have a suite prepared just for you… and a nice, strong steel cage in the basement for your keidran. We guarantee she won't be able to escape, and we've taken the liberty of clearing out the rats about three months ago" The inn-keeper said. Flora looked shocked, and Christian said, "No! I don't want her alone some dark, dank cage in the basement!" he yelled. "Huh? Alone? Oh, I get it… so she's a breeder, eh? In that case, we have plenty of male keidrans. One night, and you can expect kittens in no time!" Flora was crying now, and hid behind Christian. "Nyyaaaa!" she shouted. Christian leaned over the counter and grabbed the man by the collar of his jacket and pulled him closer to his face, his hood shadow glowing red, saying, "If you suggest something like that one more time, I'm gonna bash your head through this counter, am I clear!?" He heard a sniffling Flora, and his hood shadow turned black, and he pit the inn-keeper down. "I'm sorry. Look, can she just stay in my room?"

"Why certainly, sir" the inn-keeper said.

Five minutes later, Christian and Flora were in their suite. "Ah! It's wonderful! Ah! A bed, finally" Flora squealed. "The room service better not have anything with crows…" Christian muttered. He had kind of grown sick of eating crows. Flora jumped on the bed and rolled around on it. "I'm so happy! Mmrrrr, a bed! I haven't slept in one for so long!"

"And it's blue!" Christian said. "But… there's only one…" Flora stopped rolling and looked around. "Ah…?" She got up and said, "Oh, well there is…well, the floors fine too. I'm… used to it. It's your room, after all. No big deal. I'll just lay dow… meear?" She was cut off when Christian picked her up. "Oh, no, you know I don't even sleep anyway, get back on the bed" he set Flora back on the bed, and he sat down at the end on the floor, with Flora peeking her head over. "Oh, Christian, I've been meaning to apologize for the way I've been acting today. It was silly of me-" Christian cut her off. "Flora, chill. It's 'aight. It's normal for girls where I come from to drag guys into bath houses to compare breasts… probably"

"But that's the point! It's not normal!… At least, not for a keidran…" She rolled over and looked at him upside down, "Truth is, I haven't really been acting much like a keidran…actually, I've been trying to act as much like a human as possible… ever since we got to know each other, anyway…" Christian sighed. "Flora… you shouldn't try to act human for someone who isn't even human…" He muttered. "Huh?" Flora asked. "Nothing. Look, I don't care you're a keidran. I don't. you shouldn't try to be someone your not. It doesn't matter to me. I don't care what anyone has to say about it. If they have a problem, they can answer to me, alright?"

"But if you were to ever see what I really am… what I really act like, you would only see me as an animal… I don't want you to think of me that way"

"Flora! I already…" He was cut off when someone knocked at the door. The inn-keeper walked in with a tray of food. "Excuse me? I hope I'm not interrupting. I have some… refreshments for you and your keidran" he gave Christian the tray of food, then said, "Greeting's. I have some special ale down from the cellar. And for your keidran, a special milk that's sure to make her… happy" Christian looked at the milk. "Uh… when you say 'happy', what do you… and your gone. Hey, Flora, the inn-keeper got you some weird happy juice. I wouldn't really drink it, the last time I handled a glass of strange liquid…" his hood shadow glowed blue. "Christian?" Flora asked. "Uh, wha… oh, uh, nothing, here…" the hood shadow went black, and he set the tray down, giving her the milk. She sniffed it. "Hey, I remember this drink" she said, "It's from when I was a kitten. My mom used to drink this. At least, before she had my sister. But she would never let me have any. She said I wasn't ready yet" Christian's face screwed in concentration. "Wait, if she stopped after she had your sister… and she drank it all the time…" Christian gasped in realization. "Oh, for the love of god, Flora, don't drink…" He turned around to find her chugging the milk. "What part of don't drink it don't you understand!?" Christian yelled. She finished drinking the milk. "Oh, god, Flora, do you feel… funny?" she looked at him. "I feel fine. I guess this drink isn't really a big deal"

"well… good. That means I won't have to kill the inn-keeper… wait, why is your chest glowing pink?" She looked down to see her pink-glowing chest. "Hm? Oh, it's the necklace you gave me. I tucked it into my fur when we first entered the city. It tends to glow sometimes" Christian grasped the necklace to look at it. "Well, it's a mood necklace… what's the universal color for pink…?"

"Meeerr?" upon hearing this, Christian looked up to see Flora blushing and looking at him lovingly, then licked him. Christian reared back in pain, his cheek burning. "Flora, what the hell!? That burned!" she pushed him on the bed and started to crawl towards him. "Okay, Flora, I know I'm hot, but this is taking it a little too far…" she reached towards him. "What are you…" she grabbed his 'sweat-pants', and attempted to rip them off. Christian screamed at the top of his lungs, "DAMN YOU, INN-KEEPER! WHEN I FIND YOU, I'M GONNA RIP THAT COUNTER OUT OF THE GROUND AND BEAT YOU TO DEATH WITH IT!" An undressing red heard this, and said, "Huh? Was that Trace's…" A wandering Keith heard this, and said, "… Voice coming from…" Sythe, leaning over a rail, heard this and said, "…That room over their?" All three groups rushed over.

Christian was backing away from Flora, hi legs bleeding. "Okay, Flora, that milk had something wrong in it or something, so stop, because your not gonna be able to take these pants off without taking my legs off!" she looked at him, her eyes glowing yellow, and shouted, "Merrrheha!" before grabbing him and thrusting him onto her chest. "Flora, let me go! I'm too young for this!" suddenly, Flora looked at Christian with tired eyes. "Mrr- ah? Christian? Why do I feel so tired…" She yawned, then fell unconscious. "Ah, great, now I'm gonna have to dismember my self and throw all my parts over there to regenerate so she doesn't wake up" He was about to form his arm into a blade, when he heard someone say outside the door, "Hey, I think I heard him in this room!"

'Aw, crap…' Christian thought. The door blew apart, and the people from the tavern ran in. "Alright, I think were in!" Red shouted. "You idiot! Could you not destroy everything?" The purpled haired lady asked. Then Keith walked in. "You guys DO know the door's unlocked, right?" He asked. Suddenly, Sythe destroyed the wall and flew in. "What have you done with my Flora!?" he coldly asked. And for the grand finally, a pizza delivery guy walked in. "Tom's pizza delivery. I've got a large with extra anch- OH MY GOD!" he yelled as they all looked at Christian and Flora in shock. Everyone's facial expressions were different as they looked at Christian positioned on top of an uncurious flora on the bed. Red was confused. Purple was giving him the evil eye. Green was jumping in the air saying, "Woohoo Trace!" Pizza guy was shocked. Keith crossed his arms and looked at him disappointed like. Sythe looked ready to kill him. Christian said, "Okay, let me just say this… the inn-keeper gave Flora some weird-ass milk and… wait, this place has pizza!? Oh, for crying… man, screw my dad for what he did to me! Wait, Sythe you're here too…? Heh… heh heh… heh ha… AH HAH HAH HAH!" Christian cackled like a madman as his hood shadow glowed red, then with inhuman speed, rushed Sythe and grabbed him by then throat. "HAH HAH! Well, leaving you alive was pointless, I see. You don't know how to appreciate it when someone gives you a gift. Well, time to kill you to avoid you interrupting anything else of mine ever again!" then, Green hopped on his back. "Hey, don't hurt the poor widdle keidran! Fight me instead!"

"Get off me, Maria! Your interrupting my work" he shrugged green off, and she flew into a wall. "As, for you, Sythe, I will give you one more chance… don't squander it" he threw Sythe into Keith, knocking them both out. "Hey!" Purple yelled. "You!" Christian shouted. "I thought I ended you… well, I'll be sure to finish the job!" he moved towards Purple, but Red got in the way. "Trace, this isn't… well, yeah, it's you, but you never act like this towards us!" he shouted. "You… you melted me" he punched Red, throwing him into Purple and knocking them both out. "H…hey… stop" the white girl said. Christian picked her up and threw her into the pizza guy, knocking them both out. When the madness subsided, Christian looked around at what he had done, and gasped. "Oh, god… wait, they aren't dead, just unconscious… well, that's good, I guess… uh, better get out of here" he picked up an unconscious Flora, and walked to the lobby counter, and was greeted by the inn-keeper. "You know I should kill you, but… can I have a new room? I… kinda messed mine up…"

"Certainly…" the inn-keeper said. Back with the unconscious bodies, they stirred awake. "Uh, man… wait, did Christian knock us all out?" Keith asked. "Yeah… and he almost killed me…" Sythe said. "aw, man, where's Trace!?" Red shouted. "He must have left…" Purple said. "So… what do we do now?" she asked.

While they were all enjoying pizza, Keith held up a bottle from the food tray. "Hm, what's this? Must be a special human drink. Well, I guess I'll have a glass or two" he said. That night, Keith had a random-bottle-induced-dream. Flora was naked and laying on him in a pink bed, and asked him, "Oh, Keith. Does it really matter that I am a keidran?" A frowning Keith said, "No, not wh-when your doing something like this" he said. "I'm glad…" Flora answered, before Keith woke up. "Huh? Ugh, what a nightmare. Why in the world would I dream of something like that… huh?" he looked under his blanket. "Ah, great, now I'm gonna need a cold shower" he said before getting out of bed. Meanwhile, Christian was putting Flora in her new bed. "Well, that was rough. That guy is lucky I didn't kill him… Ah well, least I can… you know what, I don't really wanna go out there in case they came to, and it'll be creepy if I just stand in one place all night… I guess I'll just sleep on the floor and wait for Flora to wake up…" Christian collapsed on the floor, unconscious. In the morning, Flora awoke. "Mrrr… meeerrr? Oh, it's morning already! Wow, I feel amazing! I'd forgotten how wonderful a bed is!" she looked over the bed to see Christian's unconscious body. "Awww! Christian must have been really tired. He's still asleep! Well, I can't go outside in the city. I guess I'll just nap 'till he gets up" she pulled Christian into the bed with her, and put the covers over both of them. "I probably shouldn't be doing this, but I'm sure he won't mind. I don't know why, but for some reason, I feel really… glad. I think… maybe I'll stay with Christian just a little while longer, even though he can become crazy at times. I'm finally… happy with him around" Flora said, her tail wagging. I thought popped in her head and she tried to pry the hood off his head, but couldn't. "Ugh! It's like it's glued to his head! Oh, well…" She fell asleep, along with Christian.

'_Christian… do you love me?' _Aya asked. _'Yes' _Christian answered. _'Then promise me… promise me you'll bring them back…'_

'_I can't promise you anything, Aya…' _Christian answered.

Christian was dreaming when he rolled over into something… soft and warm…

"What the… why is Flora lying on top of me… oh, no!" he scrambled out of bed as Flora woke up. "Christian, what's wrong? Are we under attack? Did something happen?" Flora asked. "Flora… I woke up in… oh, god please don't tell me you…"

"Yeah, we did! It was really fun!"

"Oh, god, please… your saying we…"

"Yup!"

"No… Flora, Why!? Why did you do it!?"

"Do what? Pull you into bed so we could sleep together?"

"That doesn't… wait, all we did was sleep?"

"Yeah, why, what did you think we did?"

"Ugh, never mind, never mind! Nothing! You woke me up from a nightmare anyways, so… thanks"

"What were you dreaming about?"

"Aya…"

"There's that name again! Why won't you tell me who she is!?"

"Because it's personal! I just… I don't want to talk about it… look, I'd expect someone of your age to know what I mean…"

"Hey! What do you mean by that? I'm a keidran. All keidran my age act like this"

"Oh really? Then exactly how old are you, Mrs. 'I'm old enough to understand my problems?'"

"Oh, I'm not really sure. I think by now I'm probably eleven by now"

"…What?"

"Eleven"

"I think I have water in my ears, it sounds like you said eleven"

"I did" Christian let out an airy gasp. **"YOU'RE ELEVEN YEARS OLD!?"** Christian yelled. _'Oh, god, she's so much younger than me…' _Christian thought. An image of Christian having to slash apart a court popped in his head. Flora had to smack him to get him to stop… which caused his face to be slashed. "Oh, no, Christian I forgot about my claws! I'm so sorry!" When Christian turned around, his face was healed. "Christian, did you cast a healing spell? 'Cause I didn't see any magic"

"Uh… yeah, I did… you must have been to shocked to see it… but that's no the point. Your eleven and your telling me this now!?"

"Well, keidran age faster than humans. In keidran years, I'd be an adult"

"Oh… okay, I see the sense in that… wait, how long to keidran live?"

"Well… er… no time for that right now! We need to get packed and out of this human city!" Flora said, stretching. "Flora, tell me" Christian said, grabbing Flora's arm. "Christian, I don't want you to worry…" Christian looked at Flora in the eyes… probably. "Look, either you tell me, or I use a spell I know to look in your memories and all I'll need is a drop of your blood"

"You wouldn't" Flora said. "You wanna bet?" Christian retorted. "Oh, fine" said Flora. "A keidran is lucky to live to see twenty. We age twice as fast as humans"

"So that would make you twenty two in keidran years?" Christian asked. "Yes… about…" said Flora. _'Oh, god, she's so much older than me…' _Christian thought. "Christian, are you okay?" asked Flora. "Yeah, it's just eleven was… how old… oh, god, Aya… look, Flora, I gotta go for a minute, okay?"

"But-" but Christian was already gone. 'Someday he better tell me about her' Flora thought.

'_Man, this is just too freaky. She looks like Aya, except she's way taller, tall as me, talks like her, and is as old as her!? This just can't be coincidence… hey, is that Keith?' _Christian was mulling over himself when he spotted Keith leaning on a wall in the tavern. "Oh, Christian, I was hoping on seeing you again"

"Hey, Keith" Christian said. "So, about last night… sorry I went crazy and knocked everyone out…" Christian said. "It's alright. But look, I was wondering… I still need you to travel with me to my homeland, and what I saw last night reinforces my decision. So, can you and Flora come?" Keith asked. "Yeah, dude, the plan hasn't changed. I just have to talk to Flora about it. Meet us outside the tavern in an hour?" Christian replied. "Yeah, sure" Keith said. Christian walked back to the room flora was in, and saw that her fur was more even. "Hey, Flora, I'm back"

"Oh, hey, Christian! What do you think? I finally got a chance to brush my fur after being in those woods" Christian had to admit: She looked pretty good. "Wow, you look… just… wow, you look good… I mean, yeah, you look good"

"Heh, thanks Christian" Christian walked over to Flora. "So, Flora, I found Keith, so were gonna go and travel with him again, right?" Flora looked sad. "Keith? The basitin? Bu-but I was hoping we'd be traveling… um… just the two of us. Plus, he's mean!"

"But we were just separated for one night! And if he insults you, I'll throw him into another tree. Plus I threw Sythe at the brother and knocked them out last night. Plus, if we go to his homeland instead of heading to your keidran capital first… then we could spend more quality time together!"

"Nya? Well, let's get packing! Wouldn't want to keep Keith waiting!" Flora said. "Heh, sure thing" Christian replied.

Christian and Flora were walking around the city, with Flora wearing nothing but a white shirt with a templar symbol on it that Christian found. "Aw… why do I have to wear this?" Flora asked. "Because I'm afraid if you walk around naked, some guard will try to arrest you, then I'll have to go crazy and throw him into that tower. You don't want me to go crazy, do you?" Christian asked. "…No…" Flora said, before her stomach grumbled. "Now, I said for Keith to meet us in an hour, so we got an hour to kill…"

"Hey, Christian?" Flora asked. "Yeah?"

"I'm hungry" Flora said. "Oh, uh… what do you want?" Flora lifted her shirt. "Anything! I'm starving! Just look at me!" Christian motioned for her to lower her shirt, "Okay, okay, I get it, your malnourished, um… how's 'bout some bread?" He tossed her a loaf. "Uh, bread?" she asked. "Yeah, you know, with… crust, why?"

"Um, Christian… I think I need to explain to you more about keidran" Flora said. "Oh, don't tell me you can't digest bread…" Christian groaned. "Well, what do you want?" Christian asked. "Well.. Human Flesh!" She yelled, than bit his arm… enough to draw blood… "Flora, NO!" Christian yanked Flora's head off his arm. "OW! Christian, why did you do that!?" Flora yelled. "Uh… well, you could, uh… get an infection… just trust me, okay, so, anyway, you only eat meat?" Christian asked Flora. "yeah, we only eat meat…" She said. "All right, all right, I'll go get some meat… Flora, I know you were joking, alright, don't look sad, please?" Flora looked up at him. "I know… But, please, just because all you eat are live crows you catch, doesn't mean I have to" Flora stated. "But crows are nutritious…" Christian argued. "The only reason your so skinny is because literally all you eat are live crows!" Flora yelled. "Okay, Okay, I'll find a butcher shop and get some meat, be back, okay?" with that, Christian ran off. "Oh, shoot. I did it again. I let my keidran get the best of me. I don't want him to be scared of me. Why can't I just act like a normal girl?" Flora asked herself. "Now, miss Flora, what have I always told you? You should just act like yourself" Flora heard a voice say from behind her. She whipped around to see… "Euchre!?" behind her, she saw a tall, white dog keidran with green eyes and green sweater and brown pants, shackled and in a cage, reading a magazine. "Greetings, Flora. It's been quite a while, hasn't it? Amazing, of all places, we meet up here. So how have you been doing since **the escape**? Flora, what's wrong?" Euchre asked. "It's… been so long… Eu-Euchre… I've missed you so much! Bu-but why are you in th-that cage?" Euchre answered, "Oh, this? Well… I was out for a morning walk the other day, and these kind humans offered me a lift. I politely refused… but they were very insistant" Euchre explained. Flora went up to the bars of the cage and grasped them, crying. "Bu-but Euchre! This is horrible! I can't stand to see you in chains again! I have to get you out of here!"

"Splendid idea! I was just thinking of leaving, myself! I have to say, of all the people I've met, you're the one I've always hoped to see again. I'd be honored to travel with you. There is one problem, though. You see, I've already been sold, and apparently, it's to someone of royalty. So even if you were a human, you still wouldn't be able to buy me. I'd imagine the only one capable of getting me out now would be the grand templar himself! But of course, he's dead, so that won't do" Flora sighed. "Oh, Euchre, if only there was some way to get you out… I might know someone who can try, though!"

Christian was walking with Keith, a bag of meat in hand, talking. "I don't know, Keith. Now that I think about it, how is some random guy gonna help with a political problem?" Christian asked. "Look, Christian, you're my best bet. But you need to know-" he was cut off by a running Flora. "Christian!" Flora yelled as she ran up to them. "Stupid keidran…" Keith muttered. "Flora, look, I know you're hungry, but I got the meat…" she slapped the bag of meat out of his hands, spilling the meat on the ground. "My meat!" Christian cried. "I don't care about the meat!" Flora huffed. "I just saw a friend of mine- another keidran! I need your help! You're the only one that can get him out!"

"Uh, Christian? Can I talk to you in private?" Keith asked. 'And let the racial slurs begin…' Christian thought as Keith pulled him aside. Keith spoke, "Christian, this is a bad idea! There is no way I'm traveling with two keidran! Besides, if it's a male, then you know we'll never… well, you don't even sleep, but I won't get any sleep at night with the noise they'll be making"

"Keith, I'm warning you, Flora would never…"

"Oh, you and your keidran! How long exactly have you known Flora? A week, maybe. Trust me, kei…" Christian's hood shadow turned red and he yelled, "IF THE GUY I'M RESCUING EVEN ATTEMPTS TO SLEEP WITH FLORA, I'LL TEAR HIM LIMB FROM LIMB MYSELF!" he picked Keith off from the ground with one hand by his shirt collar. "And if you make one more racist comment while were in this city, I'll throw you to the top of that tower myself!" his hood shadow turned black, and he put Keith down in realization of what he had done. "Oh, man, please don't let Flora have heard that… look, Keith, I'm sorry, just… were rescuing him, all right? And believe me, the only thing you'll hear is the sond of dying crows, now come on" he dragged Keith back to Flora, who was teary eyed. "Okay, Flora let's get you some more meat and… you heard that didn't you?" Asked Christian when he saw a teary-eyed Flora. "W…why would… you say… that to Euchre?" she asked. "My temper got the better of me, look Flora, I'm sorry, it's just… I'm not myself when that happens… I'm deeply sorry. I can assure you that I will not lay a hand on Euchre when we free him… now you wanna go get something to eat?" she smiled and stopped tearing. "Y-yeah" they started walking when Keith asked, "So, who is this friend of your's, exactly?" Flora answered him, "Well, his name like I said is Euchre, and I've known him since I was a kitten. He always seemed very cheerful, even as a slave. He helped me out, even-e-even when m-my masters locked me up and sold me. He was always there, even when my human friends betrayed me. He helped me escape, and I learned to never trust another human again!" she looked over at Keith and Christian. Keith looked nervous, and Christian just looked neutral. "CHRISTIAN!" Flora yelled, then lunged at him, but slammed into him and fell down. Thinking that she hit a brick wall and not Christian, she looked up to see she wasn't mistaken. "Ow…" she moaned. _'Aw, crap… I'm packing too much biomass… I probably weigh three times more than I look… probably the guy I ate at the bath house and all those crows I ate while in the woods…' _Christian thought. "Uh… sorry, Flora, I've been eating a little too much…" Flora cut him off. "Christian, you haven't eaten anything since we came into the city! I'm surprised your not as hungry as me!"

"Uh… look, we can eat later, let's just free Euchre, K?" she nodded and they walked to Euchre. Flora ran up to his cage. "Euchre! I'm back! I brought some friends!" Euchre replied in keidran, "Oh, good! I knew I could count on you, Flora!" he looked at Christian. "So, this is your friend, huh? He's very… blue. He's your… new master, eh" _'Man, that dudes tall… and white… I don't like him…' _Christian thought. "No, not master! Er, I'll explain later" Flora said. "Hmm… a basitin, too? You're hanging around with an interesting crowd nowadays, Flora" Euchre looked at Keith. "What are you looking at, keidran?" Keith asked. "Christian, would you…" Flora asked. "Yeah, sure I'll take that guy around the back of that building and convince him…"

"Christian, please don't harm him… you get worse every time and you scare me… don't go crazy…"

"You know if he threatens me, I can't control it…"

"Promise me you'll free Euchre peacefully!" Flora cried. "…Fine, I will. I promise, even if he refuses, that I will not lay a hand on him. You have my word. Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye" Christian made the promise, and walked off to talk to the blonde templar that bought Euchre. "Excuse me, sir?" Christian asked. "Eh?" the templar said. "I would like to inquire to you about the keidran you… legally… bought… can we go behind that building and talk?"

"Um… okay…" said the templar. They walked behind a building were no-one could see them, and the templar spoke first, "If you wish to discuss the release of the keidran, I'm afraid I will not be able to oblige. The keidran is mine, and your speaking to a high-ranking member of the templar. If you attempt to attack me for it, it would be a very foolish mistake" the templar said with a smirk. Christian's hood shadow glowed red. "So, you will not release Euchre? Well, good thing I am a very insane teen…" Black and blue tendrils swarmed his arms, and the templar watched in horror as his arm were replaced with spiked black tendrils, glowing and pulsating blue in some places, and his hands having three fingers and one thumb, each turning into three-foot long silver blades. "… I guess I'll just have to bear my claws and consume you in order to free him" Christian continued. _'Sorry, Flora… I can't help it. I'll have to break your promise… oh, well… promises were met to be broken anyway' _he thought before lunging at the templar, impaling him on his spiked hands and pinning him to the ground, stabbing him with one hand, taking it out, and stabbed him with the other. This process went on for five minutes, with Christian thinking, _'This is taking too long… he should have died already… hm, his hands are glowing yellow… a healing spell perhaps? Well, no matter, he'll grow exhausted and die eventually…' _he continued stabbing.

In the tower: "Sire!" a templar scribe said as he ran up to his liege. "Someone is using too much mana, and no-one can stop the flow! The tower will collapse from overuse soon!"

"Evacuate everyone from the tower, now!" the commander ordered.

The alley: Christian continued stabbing. The walls and street were painted crimson. He heard a boom, and looked up to see the tower blow up. _'Huh. So, the towers are a source of mana when the ground around templar's run out? Handy, but it seems they have some flaws with overuse… oh, well, not my problem' _Christian thought as he continued stabbing, the templar weakening, then died, to which Christian consumed him. He shifted his hands back to normal, and started walking back. _'That was more bloody than I would have liked, but at least I can free Euchre now. Hopefully, no-one will ask about the tower…'_

"Why did the tower blow up?" Flora asked when he got back. "Uh, I dunno… technical difficulties over there, I guess…"

"Not likely" Keith said. "Towers were met to be a source of energy for templar's. one would only explode if one were to overuse the tower and it overloaded, exploding… and you happen to have just 'talked' to a templar…" Keith explained. _'Screw you so hard it bleeds, Keith…' _Christian thought. "Uh, well, Keith, I will have you know that I handled the situation by not attacking the templar. I negotiated with him and he agreed to free Euchre" Flora ran over and hugged Christian. "Reall y!?"

"Really. He said he doesn't even need the cage anymore" Christian pried Flora off of him, then went to the cage door, using one hand to rip the door out and dropping it, then went over to Euchre and pried the shackles off his ankles, then walked out to see the stunned expressions of Keith and Flora. "What?" Christian asked. "Wow… I knew you were strong, but… wow…" Flora said. "The cage door I can barely understand, but the shackles? Those things were meant to be unbreakable" Keith said. "Thank… human…" Euchre said as he exited the cage. "Oh, come on! He barely speaks English!?" Christian yelled. "What? Not every keidran has to learn English!" Flora argued. "Bu… wha… how are… oh, forget it, let's go guys… actually, go on ahead, I'll catch up" he ran into a bank in the guise of the templar he ate. _'Time_ _to drain some bank accounts' _he thought. When he was done, he met back up with the group, and with that, the group walked out of the city. In the distance, two figures argued over the destruction of the tower. "Ephemural! Look at what you've done! You've destroyed everything!" A blond man argued. "Oh? You do not like my plan?" Neutral retorted. "Plan!? What kind of plan is this!? That cretin you brought into this world slaughtered that templar! He was one of my highest in command! And because of that, the tower is destroyed!" The blond figure yelled. "Wrong!" Neutral yelled, black wings forming on it. "I do not involve myself with the petty lives of you templar mortals. And I do not care for Christian's fate, either! There is only one thing I seek: Balance! I am neutrality! I'm after… her"

"Her? But she's just Christian's keidran sla…" Neutral cut him off. "She is the one who will bring balance to the races. And betrayal is the key to spark the hatred I need. I just need to create that spark…"

The group were walking through the woods when Euchre spoke to Christian, "Human… did you really… talk to… other human to free me?" he asked. Christian sighed. "No, I… I had to kill him. Him healing is what over-loaded the tower"

"So you… lie to flora?" he asked. "Some promises were meant to be broken. She needs to learn sometimes killing is the only option" Christian replied. Unfortunatly, Keith had heard the entire thing. "Hey, Flora" he said. "I need to tell you something" with that, he told her what he heard. Later, during night, they had set camp up. Flora and Euchre were unpacking supplies in a tent, and Christian and Keith were eating outside, with Christian happily munching on a live crow as it squawked in pain, and Keith brushing his tail. "I still am not used to that…" Keith said. "Eh, I like it. They're plentiful and filling!" Christian said as he stuffed a wing in his mouth. In the tent, Flora and Euchre were conversing. "Your friend has a strange diet, Flora. I've never heard of a human eating nothing but live crows he catches… no wonder he's so thin…" Euchre commented. "Yeah, well, he is strange in that way… and many others…"

"mmhm… You sure have fallen for this guy, haven't you?"

"What!? No! I… haven't even thought… well… we're just friends!"

"Hmm… I seem to remember hearing that one before. And you know how that turned out, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah… but I was young and stupid back then. I won't make the same mistake again"

"Heh, so you're saying that you aren't young any more?"

"Oh, be quiet"

"Flora, listen, you know you're like a sister to me. But I'm getting old. I'm twenty one now. If I'm lucky, I may live to see another two or three years. But I can't protect you forever. Ah, look at you, your fur is in knots!"

"Euchre, I'm fine-"

"I know, I know… look, why don't you go and take a bath in that river we found and then get off to bed"

"Oh, okay"

"I'll be in my tent if you need me" before he left, Flora grabbed his sleeve. "Euchre, Keith told me something… did Christian really kill that templar and lie to me?"

"I'm afraid so, Flora…"

"B-but why… would he lie to me?" flora asked, tearing up. "Flora, Christian is… interesting. I know more than I let on, so let me just say this… he's been through much. Violent tendencies are only natural. But I warn you, Flora… he's dangerous. Be careful around him"

"Okay…" said Flora, sniffling.

Keith was brushing his tail when he saw Euchre exit the tent_. 'Keidran…' _he thought_. 'My plans were almost ruined yesterday. Just about lost my ticket home. And I told Flora the truth of what Christian did. Eh, I shouldn't care if she's sad or not… so why do I feel so guilty over telling her!? This is insane. I am a basitin warrior! And she's getting in the way of my plans. What I really need is to get rid of her. But I gave Christian my word I wouldn't even touch her… then again, all's fair, as the saying goes'_

Christian was watching Keith stir in his sleep. He had fallen asleep while brushing his tail. _'He would look cute… if he wasn't a guy and was a jerk to Flora… hey, speaking of which, is that her going towards the lake? I'll go visit her!' _Christian got up and walked towards the lake. When he left, Keith awoke and got up, grabbing his stuff and stalking towards the lake…

Flora came to the lake, and walked into it, shivering at how cold it was. "C-c-cold! How can it be so cold? Darn Euchre. Could have at least offered to help me. It'll take forever to get all this dirt out of my fur. I wonder if Christian… no, I don't want to talk to him…" suddenly she heard a rustling in the bushes. "Hey, Flora, I wanted to talk… uh, you are here, right?" Christian yelled from the brush. "Ah, Christian! I…uh…ehm… don't come in here! I'm naked!" Flora yelled. "What? Flora, you have fur, I've seen you naked a hundred times, you basically have a wool skin suit on twenty four seven" Christian said when he came out of the brush. _'Uh, wait, how am I gonna… eh, I'll bolster my biomass at my legs, they should last in the water awhile, needed to get rid of it anyway…' _Christian did just that, and stepped into the water. "Wait, Christian, what about your… wait, you haven't told me why water melts you and why you aren't melting" Flora said. "Oh, uh, a mage… cursed me in the city where I met Keith, and… yeah, it, uh, I took precaution spells to, uh, protect me for awhile… so yeah…" lied Christian as he stepped into the water. _'Why does he always lie to me?' _Flora thought, than said, "So… how's it going, Christian?" Flora asked. "Uhm, pretty good, ya know… look, Flora, I gotta tell ya something…" he reached out for her, and she cringed back. "Naaah…" she moaned. Christian, sounding heart-heavied, said, "Flora, why are… so, you know what really happened to the templar, don't you?"

"Yeah…" she said, than turned around. "Flora, I didn't want to do it… I really didn't, but he wouldn't let Euchre go any other way…"

"Why do you lie to me? About the templar, the water… why?" She asked, sounding choked up. "Flora, look, I lie to protect you… if you knew the truth about me… look, forget it, I… I'm just gonna go… guess I'll go live with Keith as roomates when I'm done helping him… or something… I dunno… goodbye" _'Damn, I blew it… well, it wouldn't have worked between us anyway. She's a biped tiger with a short lifespan… I'm a mutated nigh invincible and immortal freak that has crazy episodes… man, I'm gonna miss her, guess I'll settle down with a basitin chick, I guess…' _He was walking away when Flora muttered, "Neh? No…wa…wai… WAIT!" she pounced on him and pinned him to the ground. "Please don't leave meeeee!" She yelled. "Flora, I only bolstered my legs, get off please before I melt…" Christian pleaded. "Oh, no, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to jump on you again. Are you okay?" Christian got up, slightly sizzling. "Yeah, I'm fine… look, Flora, I would love to tell you the truth, I really would, but… look, if I did you would be scared of me. Disgusted by me. I… prefer to just have you know me for what you know of me now… look, I'm sorry… can you find it in your heart to forgive me?" Christian asked. "Hmm… I don't know… I don't like friends keeping secrets from me, but I'll make an exception for now… but only on one condition" she said. "Uh… a foot massage?" Christian asked. "Later. Can you brush my fur?" She asked, pulling a green brush out of nowhere. "…You got a blue one?" Christian asked. BONK! "Okay, okay, I'll brush with this one…"

Meanwhile, Keith was walking towards the lake. "Ah, why do I always remember that? Where was that lake again? Maybe I can wash the memories away… oh, there it is. Eh? Is that Flora and… Christian? What are they doing!?"

Keith-O-Vision: Keith saw Christian positioned behind Flora. "How's this, Flora?" Christian asked. "Oh, that feels great. Harder! Harder!" she yelled. In reality, Christian was just brushing Flora's fur. "Can't believe this, making me brush my fur with a dang green brush… I got standards, ya know? So, you feel alright now?" Christian asked. "That was good. But you know you can brush harder. My fur isn't that fragile" she said. She turned to Christian. "Um… Christian… I've been wondering… do you think of me as just another keidran"? she asked. "Wha… no! you know I don't judge by race. Plus, your actually the first girl I've ever met that wasn't related to me… ever, so… yeah…" she turned and snickered. "Wait, really? The first girl you ever met?" she asked. "Well, my father was very strict with confining me to the mansion… never let me outside the estate…" Flora laughed. "Wow, the first girl you ever met, and I wasn't even human… that's rich!" she laughed. "Oh, shut up… you want me to keep brushing or not?" she looked saddened. "no, no. I think I feel better…" she started walking off. _'Well, now or never…' _Christian thought. He grabbed Flora's hand. "Uh… Flora…" he turned her around and looked into her eyes. _'Can it be true? Is he really going to…?' _Flora thought, than an image of her rejection as a slave popped into her head. "Look, Flora, I think I need to tell you the truth…"

"Christian, stop…" Flora cut him off, than thought, _'Why did it have to be a human again? I don't want to re-live that pain. But Christian makes me happy… most of the time… how can I know he won't betray me too?… I'll never find out if I keep pushing him away' _she looked at Christian. "Flora, you need to know-mpgmfmm!?" Christian yelled as Flora pounced at him again and pressed her lips against his. Christian didn't know how he felt. Sad, happy… he just felt… warm… he just closed his eyes as he felt his first kiss as he wrapped his arms around her.

Meanwhile, Keith was watching the entire thing. "This…this can't be! It's just not right! This goes against the basic principles of every known race! I have to stop them!"

"No" Keith whipped around to see Euchre clad in a green robe and stick behind him. "You!? What do you mean "no"? didn't you see what they did? Geh! Can't you see what they're _still_ doing?" he asked Euchre. He answered, "Let…be. I…talk to flora later. "Oh, yeah? Do you really think you can stop me?" Keith asked, failing to notice Euchre was nine inches taller than him, then noticed. Back at the lake, Flora released Christian. "Wow… I read all those romance novels in the library, but… wow they did not go into enough detail…" Christian said. "Heh, Christian, look, I… ah… ah… AH CHEEE!" whatever Flora was gonna say, it was cut off when she sneezed. "Oh, no… you got the sicks, didn't you?" Christian asked Flora. "No, I think it's just the water. It's freezing, even for me" Christian nodded and picked Flora up. "Hey, you don't have to carry me again!" laughed Flora. "Heh, yeah, I know, but we both need to get out of the water, C'mon, let's get you dried off" Christian said as he carried Flora off. Back in a tent at camp, Christian was drying Flora off with a towel. "Hey, Christian…" said Flora, "I'm surprised you didn't mind the smell of wet fur" Christian shrugged. "Eh, I used to have a pet rabbit named snowball I had to wash all the time. I got used to it, eventually. It kinda just smells like jelly to me…"

"So, your saying I smell like jelly?" Flora asked. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, I just think it's time for you to redeem that foot massage…" Flora said. "Aw, okay… lean back, this is just to make up for lying, okay?" Christian stated as he activated viral sonar and went to work on the pressure points on her feet. "I know, but when you say it like that…Oooohhh, wwwoooowww, Chrissstiannn, that feeelllsss reallllyyy niccce… how long havvvvee you beeen doing thissss?" Flora slurred in pleasure. "Uh, other than that one time when I was fixing your foot, first foot massage" Christian said. "Noooo waaaaayyyyyyyy…" Flora felt so good, she actually passed out. "Heh, well I'll be… I should do that more often when she's awake… well, I lost a lot of biomass in that lake, time to regain some… crow time!" Christian said, before running off into the woods in search of crows.

In the morning, Christian came back, full on the biomass of crows, and saw Keith. "Heya, Keith! Wow, didn't much sleep, did ya?" Christian asked. "No, I didn't. I got up in the morning and got some fish for breakfast. I've already had some, so you give the rest to Flora" he said before walking off. "Cool! Thanks, man!" Euchre walked up to him. "Christian! Can I… speak to you?" he asked. "Uh, sure Euchre, what's up?"

"I saw what you did" he stated coldly. "Problem, Euchre?" Christian asked. "Christian, relax. I'm not here to fight you. Just warn… Flora is… sister-like to me. It is easy to… hurt Flora. Flora has been hurt before. With you… it is hard. I willn't stop her. She is happy. But…" he squeezed Christian's shoulder… _hard_. "I'll be watching you very closely, Christian. I know more than I let on. Flora is counting on you, Christian, and if you ever hurt her…" he was cut off by Christian. "You'll do what? I'm more dangerous than I look, Euchre…" Christian said. "Oh, I know, Christian, _boys_ with tough pasts are hard, what with what happened to you're family…" Christian's hood shadow glowed red…

Flora was in the tent, licking herself. "Hmm… that's odd, I feel really…different today. Not bad, just strange. Oh well, I wonder where Christian ran off to? I can't believe his foot massages feel so good it knocked me out cold. Teehee! I kinda wish he would have slept in my tent instead of run off. That way I could… uh, er… make sure the water didn't do any permanent damage… yeah, that's right" suddenly, she heard a large SMACK! Outside. She looked outside her tent to see… _'oh, no…' _Flora thought. Christian's hood shadow was glowing red, and he was holding Euchre by the throat, against a tree. "You don't know anything about my family!" Christian spat. "Oh, I think I do, Christian, for instance, your father, Albert Drevis, scientist who…"

"SHUT UP!" Christian raised his hand, about to turn it into a claw. "Now, Christian, you wouldn't want to kill me… not with Flora here… put your claws down. Would Monika have wanted this? Your dear mother?" Christian was shaking now. His hood shadow glowed blue upon him remembering, and he dropped Euchre… only to punch strait through the tree, and yelling, "AGH! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HEAD!" before running into the woods. As soon as he was gone, Flora ran up to Euchre. "Euchre, what was Christian doing!?" Flora asked. "Ah, well, that was my fault on my part, I tempted him to go through that… may have purposely brought up bad memories…" Flora looked shocked. "But…why!?" she half-asked half-yelled. "I'm sorry, look, he is probably going to blow off some steam… I wouldn't try to comfort…" but Flora had already run off. "Oh, boy" Euchre said.

Christian was in the woods, taking his anger out on trees. "Ah! Euchre! What the hell does he know anyway!?" he uprooted a tree and threw it away. "He didn't go through what I went through at that damn mansion!" he punched another tree in half. "He doesn't know anything about how I lost them!" he was going berserk on trees all around him. When he was done, his hood shadow went black, and looked around at the carnage he did. Every tree was either missing or broken. He felt sad, and collapsed onto the ground. Flora found the clearing, and gasped. The entire clearing was a mess. _'how could he have done all this?' _Flora thought, then saw Christian's prone figure on the ground. She ran over to him and saw that he was unconscious. She picked him up and dragged him back to camp.

'_Get the hell away from her!'_

'_What was that thing!?'_

'_Why'_

'_I won't lose you…'_

'_goodbye…'_

These thought were racing through Christian's head as he heard a voice. "Christian! Christian, wake up! Christian!" his eyes fluttered open, and he saw Flora leaning over him. One thing came to thought. "Euchre…where?" he asked. The keidran leaned over to meet him. "Christian, let me just say that I…" Christian grabbed his throat and began to throttle him. Keith stepped in and attempted to remove his hands, but couldn't. "Christian, please stop!" Flora cried, to which Christian immediately let go. Euchre was clutching his throat, but otherwise looked okay. Christian sat up, saying, "Euchre, I don't know how you knew all that, but I swear I will…" he was cut off when Flora ran in front of Euchre. "Christian, I know what he did was wrong, but you can't just hurt him because of what he did!" she yelled. "But… I… fine, then… Euchre, I don't know how you know about my family, but I warn you: keep it to yourself, other whys… I hope you got eyes in the back of your head" after saying that, Christian walked out of the tent he was in. "Jeez, what did you say to tick him off so much?" Keith asked. "Dug up… bad memories…" Euchre said. "Hey Keith, were leaving. C'mon, I need to go over the map with you" Christian called from outside. "Alright, coming" Keith walked out of the tent, and Flora walked over to Euchre. "Euchre, are you alright?" Flora asked. "Yes, I'm fine… can we walk and talk?" Euchre asked. "Sure" Flora said. They left the tent to see Christian talking with Keith, and walked into the woods. "So, that boyfriend of yours has quite a grip on him, doesn't he?" Euchre asked after some walking. "Wha-! But how… you mean Christian? Eh, no! he…you see, we…" Euchre put his hand on Flora's shoulder. "Flora, Flora! Relax, I can't understand your human tongue when you talk that fast! By the way, congratulations on your first kiss, even if it was done in the human way" Euchre commented. "Oh! You-you saw that?" Flora quipped. Back at camp, Christian and Keith were discussing what rout they would take. "So, we'll be leaving human territory soon and reach the sea from here"

"So, were going away from the big blue circle?" Christian asked. "Ugh, yes… look, Christian, can I talk to you about something?" Keith asked. "Yeah, it's not like were pressed for time… what is it"?

"Let me be blunt. Your relationship with Flora won't work"

"Wha… I don't know what… where are you getting these crazy ideas, Keith?"

" I saw what you did yesterday, and I don't care, it's your business, but… I think it's important I tell you something about keidran. They aren't like human females. They run on instinct, and one of these make it impossible to commit to someone. Her instincts will eventually force her to find some other male. Flora may not even realize she has this instinct, but it doesn't matter. I've never heard of a keidran staying with the same person for more than a few weeks, at least, not at her age. So you see, a lasting relationship simply is not possible. She just won't be able to help herself"

"Keith, you fail to consider my violent tendencies. She even looks at a keidran male, she won't get the chance to say "hi". you don't know what your dealing with"

"I do! I know what it's like. But fine, don't believe me. You can see for yourself"

"Fine! I'm gonna go get Flora, wait here" Christian then walked off. Back in the woods, Flora and Euchre were conversing. "Flora, remember what I've always told you. I'm sure you'll do fine. I trust Christian… but you must be careful. He pretends to be what he is not… but it's for your sake. I don't think he likes what he is, and he tries to hide it from everyone. You will not like him if you ever see what he really is. I pray that you do not. Flora… I must go now" Euchre explained. "Go!? Where? You're coming with me, aren't you" Flora asked. "No… now that I am free, I have some… business that I must take care of. I'm sorry, Flora" Flora teared up, and ran over to embrace Euchre. "Nooo! Please! Please! Don't leave me again! You can't! I won't let you!" Christian came upon this display and took the wrong message. "Ahem! Flora, we need to go… _now_" She let go of Euchre and looked at him. "Oh… okay, Christian. Is there something wrong, Christian? Something… I did?" she asked. "No, I'm good… c'mon" she ran over to him, wrapped her arms around him, and started purring. "Hey, what are you… stop it, that tickles!" he fell on the ground, laughing. The vibrations of her purring was vibrating his biomass, and it tickled… a lot. "Come on, Christian. Why are you mad at me?" Flora asked as she leaned over him. "I already told you I'm not… jeez, don't purr like that… it tickles… how am I supposed to brood when I laugh like that?" he asked. "Well, good! And now that I know my weapon against you, you can bet I'm gonna use it!" she proclaimed. "Aw, great… heh, alright, c'mon, we actually have to go, Flora…" with that, they walked back to camp. Euchre said his goodbyes, much to the pleasure of Christian, and started walking towards their destination. Two weeks later, they were lost in the woods. Flora was chasing and eating some butterflies, and Christian and Keith were looking at the map. "Admit it. Were lost" Christian said. "No! I just need to… find… a landmark…"

"Dude, the only thing that the map says is "Forest". and we haven't even seen any giant letters! Were really lost at that point!"

"Yeah, I know!" thirty minutes later, Christian threw his hands up in frustration. "Keith, your map skills are worse than mine. Here, let me try to get a bearing on where… uh, guys? Guys? Oh, come on! How did I lose them!?"

Meanwhile…"Christian! Christian! Oh, how could we lose him? What if he's in trouble?" Flora asked. "Flora! He's fine. I'm worried for whatever tries to attack _him_. We just need a way to find him… do you know his scent well enough to track it?" Keith asked. "Oh, of course! But I've never tried this before. Let's see…" She got on the ground and started sniffing it with her tail up, giving Keith a good view of her- "Ugh, I never realized that he smelled like a dead guy… must be all the crows he eats. But I think he went this way! Come on, Keith!" she ran off into the forest. "A-alright… lead the way, Flora" keith said with a blush. "Christian! Hey, Christian! Christian? Um… Keith" Flora asked Keith. "Hm? Find him?"

"Er… no… I just realized… this is the first time we've actually been alone. I just wanted to… uh… ask you… why do you… um… hate my kind?"

"…Sigh… it's nothing personal, flora. It's just that were different races. I'm not supposed to even be talking with you"

"Ah, so I guess "Keith the basitin" hates me? So… what about Keith the person?" Keith was about to answer her, but her head whipped around in panic. "Oh, no!"

"What is it, Flora?"

"I smell it… a… a feral keidran! Hurry, we have to find Christian, quickly!"

"Alright, time to use viral sonar… oh wait, Flora, is that you?" he got a closer look at the knealing keidran. "Oh, no, your not her… your color and pattern are different… sorry, I thought you were someone else… can I ask you for directions?" he asked the keidran. She whipped around to reveal a scarred face, and growled at him. "Uh… sorry if I interrupted something…" said Christian, backing up with his hands up. "GRRAAA!" the keidran pounced on him. He dodged, and she clawed the tree behind him. "WHOA! What is your problem with-oof!" she pushed him down and got on top of him. _'Crap, she's gonna eat me. Well, it doesn't matter, I'll just consume her from the inside-out and regenerate later… wait… what is she…' _his hood shadow glowed red in realization of what she was doing.

"Oh, no… I smell blood! Come on, Keith, hurry!"

"Why? By the time we get their, that keidran is as good as dead"

"Feral keidran are dangerous! With claws! She could… be… eating him…" she stopped when they came upon the horror before them. Christian was knealing on top of the keidran, punching her brains out, blood splattering everywhere. "This… is… for… trying… to…hump… me… you… sick… bitch!" he said in-between punches, then picked her body up by her leg and was beating her against a tree, then after thirty second, took one leg in each hand and tore her n half. "told you…" Keith said. "Uh…hey, guys, uh… so, what's happening? Heh… oh, man…" It was then Flora fainted. "…I'm bonked when she wakes up, aren't I?" Christian asked Keith. "Oh, yeah. C'mon, let's set up camp" it was nighttime now, the camp was set up, and Flora came too. "Ugh… wha…what happened… Christian!" she ran over to him, who was eating a crow, and TING! "OW!" Flora held her hand in pain. "Hah! I saw that coming! Here ya go, Keith" he pulled Keith's bucket helmet from under his hood and threw it over to him. BONK! "OW! Hey, my crow! The heck, Flora, you made me drop it!" Christian yelled, before darting around his body, inspecting him. "Christian! Oh, no! that feral keidran didn't hurt you, did it?"

"It was kinda the other way around…" Keith said. "Flora, I'm fine" Christian said. "Are you sure? How 'bout here? Or here? Or down… here…"

"Hey, what are… get out of there!"

"Ugh! What is it with your cloths!? It's like they're practically you're skin! They won't come off!"

"Heh…flora, don't say stuff like that… c'mon, sit with us" she sat down next to him, then said, "That feral keidran… why did you kill it…?"

"I was preventing my own rape! What was it anyway?"

"Well… when a normal keidran experiences a lot of mental trauma, sometimes… their minds will shut down, and they revert back to their primitive selves. Occasionally, they will snap out of it, but… after about a day, it becomes impossible. They become just like any other animal, relying only on their instincts. It's something I've always feared… becoming a feral" Flora explained. "Sheesh, that's harsh. Well, don't worry, if that ever happens, I can just give you a lobotomy! My dad taught me a lot about brains" Christian said. "Heh… your not kidding, are you?" Flora asked. "No, why would I?" Christian asked. "Oh…" Flora sighed. "Hey, so, uh… question… why did that feral try to… ya know… do that thing?" Christian asked. Flora blushed. "Oh, the humping thing? That wasn't 'cause she was a feral. It's something that happens to all us female keidran now and then…" she said. "Get now and then…what?" Christian asked. Flora darted into her tent. "Hey, Flora, where are you going?"

"Uh, I'll tell you later, Christian. I'm tired, I need some sleep"

"But I want to know…"

"Later! I'll tell you later!"

"But-"

""Goodnight, Christian! Phew! The last thing I want to do is explain to Christian about how keidran sex works. At least I don't have to worry about "that time of the year" anytime soon. I mean it's been…let's see… last time was… uhm… oh, crap"

"Keith, do you have any of Flora's blood lying around?"

"…no…why?"

"I need her memories. She said something about girl keidran going through stuff sometimes. I wanna know what"

"Wait…you mean…Flora is… I-in… welp, I'm tired! See you in the morning!"

"wait, what's wrong with Flora!?"

"I dunno, really!"

"Keith, if you don't get back here, I'll tear you in half!" Keith turned to look at him. "really? With those stick arms?" Christian walked over too the biggest tree he could see. "Keith, Keith, Keith… look, when I say I'm gonna do something…" he grabbed the tree with one hand, and uprooted it, holding it in the air, "…I mean it" he then punched the tree in half… with one hit, and threw the other half so far away Keith couldn't see it. "So, what's wrong with Flora?" Keith started shaking. "H-how did… did you d-d-do that?" he asked. "Crows have a lot of protein in them, Keith. Now, tell me, what's with Flora?"

"Uh… look, I don't wanna say right now… I'll tell you in the morning, alright?"

"K…" with that, Keith ran off.

The next morning, Flora was walking around. "Well, it hasn't started yet. I think I have a few more days to go. I just need to be honest with Christian…oh, good morning Keith" Keith whipped his head around. "Gah! Sorry, Flora, I-I'm kinda in a hurry! I'll see you later" with that, Keith zipped off. "That… was odd. What a weird guy… oh, morning, Christian!"

"Mornin'!" Christian replied as he was munching on a crow. "ack! She's going after Christian now!"

"I just wanted to appolog- Hey! Where'd everyone go?" she asked as Christian vanished.

"Keith, what am I doing in a bush?" Christian asked. "I was saving your life!" Keith argued. "From what? Her fleas?"

"Ugh, no… I should have explained it to you before… okay, female keidran have this thing called "heat" which occurs about five times a year…"

"Wait, so they… have annual sunstrokes? You would think they would pack sunscreen for that kind of thing…"

"No! look, during this time… they pretty much have sex with anything that moves" a shocked expression came upon the part of Christian's face Keith could actually see. "Wha… wait, that actually sounds pretty funny…"

"Christian!" Keith yelled. Christian smacked himself. "Alright, alright… so, what do we do? Tie her to a boulder?"

"no…"

"Ah, a tree! That way it'll be rooted to the ground!"

"Gods, no Christian!"

"… uh, a log moving downstream? 'cause at this point I'm out of ideas…"

"NO! look, just… avoid her for awhile, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, mom… c'mon, let's go back to camp before she notices were missing…" but Keith had already ran off. "Uh, okay, then…" he said as he walked out of the bush. "Well, it's not like she can strip my pants off in my sleep, considering they're my skin… meh, I'll see how bad it is with Flora… where is she, anyway?" he was answered when he heard a "mmmmrrraaahh!" behind him. "Butter!" Christian shouted as he was pounced upon and she pinned him to the ground, licking him. "Ow, ow, ow… Flora, quit it! This isn't you!" Christian shouted. "Aww, silly Christian! What's wrong? I pounce you all the time"

"Uh, Keith told me 'bout your problem…"

"Oh, he told you about that? Then you should know this means we'll have to make the most of our time right now"

"Uh… when you say that, do you mean your not crazy yet and we should hang out while your sane? That's what your saying, right? Please be yes…"

"Maybe…" Flora said. Christian wiggled from under her and bolted. "Come back, Christian! I wanna huggle you some more!"

"No! I refuse!" Keith heard the entire thing happen back at camp. "Stupid kids" he sighed and pulled a letter from his pocket, then ripped it up. "Ah! Not again! This pain… why does it keep coming back? That's it. This letter has haunted me long enough. It's time to complete my mission and fulfill the contract" back at camp, Christian was hiding in a bush. "Heh, she'll never find me here…"

"But I did!" Flora said from behind, causing him to jump out of the bush. "Okay, Flora… I'm not sure I should be around you during this heat thing…"

"But I'm not in that yet…"

"Because if I don't, then… wait, your not gonna try to rape me in my sleep?"

"Naah! Well, not yet. Trust me, you'll know when it happens" she wrapped her arms around him. "But thanks for caring! Hehe!" she let go of a blushing Christian and walked off. "Well, that went better than I had expected! Didn't even have to explain… it. Ah, I'm a little tired. I think I'll take a nap 'til we have to move- hey, what's that?" she spotted the torn up letter, and picked it up. "It's in keidran! A letter to… Keith… from… his wife!?" she walked into a tent after reading the letter, and stretched. "I really need to ask Keith about that letter…aaaah… after I take a nap for a few hours. Hm, it must be starting already… oh, well. Christian knows about it now. Hehe, maybe when he wakes up… I'll…" she fell unconscious. Outside, Keith and Christian were conversing. "Yo, Keith"

"Christian, we need to get going. Where's Flora"

"Dunno… sleeping, probably"

"well, then go wake her. We need to go"

"Dude, screw that. You wake her up"

"What!?"

"She said she ain't in cold, but I don't really trust her…"

"Heat"

"Whatever! I'm a virgin, and I prefer to keep it that way"

"Fine, I'll go get her"

Keith walked into her tent, looking for her. "Flora? You in there? Hello? Flora, wake up! Hm, where is she? And what is that musky smell? Seems familiar… like a keidran in…" suddenly, his tail was grabbed, and he was pulled down as Flora wrapped her arms and legs around him. "Heat" Keith finished. "Mmm… come'er, Christian!"

"She's… asleep?" she attempted to lick him, and he elbowed her. "Get off me!"

"Naaaaaah!" she held her now bleeding nose, now fully awake and tears in her eyes. "Ow…ah… wha did… you d-do tha'… *sniff* wha… na… wha… did… nahhhh…" Keith was backing up now. "Wait, no! Don't cry! Christian will kill me! Here, I'll get some water…" he ran out and came back five seconds later with his bucket hat filled, and wetted a rag with it and gave it to her. "I'm… dorry, Flora. I really didn't mean it. Here, this should help" she took the rag. "Oh, dat's okay. Id's ma faut"

"No, it isn't. is there something I can do to make it up to ya?" she held up the letter she found. "Well, actually, I was wandering if you could tell me… where this came from" A look of shock overcame Keith, than anger. "Where the hell did you get that!?" yelled, raising his fist. "Hey, what's with all the hubbub?" Christian asked as he came in… to see Keith's fist raised to a bloody Flora. "No! don't hit me again!" Flora pleaded. "Flora? Why are you covered in blood… Keith… why is Flora covered in blood? What happened?" Christian asked calmly. "Uh… n-nothing?" Christian laughed, his hood shadow glowing red. "Heh heh heh… nothing? Nothing happened? 'Cause what I see… is you beating Flora… and when I'm done with you, your gonna wish you were that tree…" Christian said, Keith starting to sweat, than Flora ran up and wrapped her arms around Christian. "no, don't!" she pleaded. Christian's hood shadow turned black. "No!? why no, yo? He punched you!"

"Wait! Listen *sniff* to me. He didn't do it on purpose! Really, he was helping me"

"Your definition of helping and mine are pretty different, Flora…"

"My nose is fine, really!"

"Okay… fine, I forgive him… mostly. Here, let me fix your nose" Christian said as he worked on her nose. Outside, Keith was panting next to a tree. "*Huff* why do I even bother running, I have nowhere to go. Why didn't I just tell her the truth?"

"There! All set… literally. How does it feel?"

"M-my nose! You fixed it! But how…?" Christian grinned. "'cause I got mad doctor skills. C'mon, let's get Keith" he picked Flora up and walked out the tent. "Christian, what are…" She didn't finish. Christian channeled biomass into his legs, and jumped, sending him and Flora hundreds of feet in the air. "EEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Flora shrieked as they went up. Keith was running to his tent in order to avoid the duo. "There's my tent. I'll just wait in there for awhile. Hopefully Flora will explain things to Christian. If not, then I got my sword… aw, who am I kidding, a sword won't stop him!" it was then he heard the scream and looked up. "How the hell…" he muttered as he saw Christian plummet towards the ground, than landed without so much as a scratch, and gently set a shaking Flora down. "Christian… what… was… that… how… where…" Keith asked. "I jumped" he answered. "…Jumped?" Keith asked. "Yep, listen, I wanted to have a word with ya…" he didn't finish, because Flora pounced on him. BONK! BONK! BONK! SLAP! SCRATCH! SLASH! BAM! SLISH! "OW! OW! OW! For the love of god, stop, it hurts… mercy! Mommy!" Christian cried as Flora beat him. "Don't…ever…do…that…again!" Flora yelled as she continued to slash and punch him. "uh, Flora… I think he's had enough…" Keith said weakly. After five minutes, Flora got off Christian's battered and bloody, twitching body. "…Is he going to be okay?" Keith asked. "Yeah, he'll be fine, he can heal… anyway, Keith, please don't be mad at me for reading that note. It's just that… you… were you…?" Keith sighed. "If you really must know, then… after arriving on the mainland nearly starving to death, a group of fox keidran happened to find me. They helped me, for some reason. Gave me cloths, and let me live with them as if I were their son. I was young and took all the help I could get. After a few months with them, I fell in love with their daughter. I asked the parents if I could court her, and they agreed. It wasn't all that unusual. They warned me about the ways of the keidran females. But I ignored them, and three months later asked her to marry me. She agreed whole-heartedly. Then, two days before the wedding, she went out and never came back. I left immediately after hearing she was sleeping with another keidran. And that was that. Happy now?" Christian started rising from the ground, fully healed. "Ugh… really, Flora? Anyway, if what half of what I heard through the blood running out of my ears were true… sucks, man" Christian commented. "Uh… Christian, three things. One, I didn't see you cast a heal spell" Keith said. "You must have been so caught up in your story you missed it…" Christian answered. "Two, healing spells don't heal that fast" Christian snorted. "Tell that to the templar I gutted. Why do you think it took me so long, and why do you think the tower exploded? Healing spells like that exist" Christian lied. "Okay, and three…" Keith pulled his sword out… and rammed it through Christian's gut. "Keith, what are you doing!?" Flora screamed. "Keith, really? I mean… really?" Christian pulled the sword out of him, and threw it to Keith's feet, a bleeding slit in his abdomen. "Why? You just insulted me… do you know how insulting you saying "Sucks, man" feels? I lost my wife!" Keith yelled. "You lost an optional person you became attached to. And at least she's still alive. Is this where your racism of keidran stemmed from? A fling with a fox? You really are pathetic Keith, you know that?" Christian asked. Keith picked the sword up and slashed it across Christian's neck, blood spraying and pooling. "Keith, you can't hurt me" Christian remarked. "How are you still alive!?" Keith asked as he stabbed Christian's throat. "Enough of this" Christian said as he smacked Keith away, and throwing his sword to his feet. "I will still accompany you to the island. What happens between their will determine where we are in terms of friends, but for now, we should go. Pick yourself up" Christian said as he walked away. Flora looked at Keith, than ran up to Christian, seeing he was fully healed. BONK! "I had that coming…" Christian remarked. "What was that with Keith!? You utterly bashed him! What is your problem!?"

"My problem is Keith can't cope with one simple loss" Christian said. "Christian, you don't know. You've never lost anyone in your life. I'm the first girl you ever met. You've never lost one you loved. You never lost your family. I have! You don't know what it's like!" Flora yelled. "Yeah… I wouldn't…" Christian lied. "uh… Christian, I feel so bad for Keith. I didn't mean to bring back bad memories"

"Yeah, I know… I'm sure he won't hold it against you"

"It's just that… if she loved him, why would she do that?"

"Well, Keith said something about instincts… but it does seem like a far cry…"

"I know what he meant. My mother told me once… until I turned fourteen, I'd never be able to devote to just one person. I didn't really believe her… but… I think it may be true, I… you know I was supposed to be married to Sythe before I met you. I've almost totally forgotten him. What… what if the same thing happens b-between us?"

"Flora… you know I would never let that happen. And you know you can overcome your own instincts"

"I know…" she ran over and hugged him. "But I'm happy with you! Christian, I promise, I'll never hurt you like that… never! I swear!"

"Alright, jeez, I already made that dramatic speech, your good" back behind, Keith heard the entire thing, a tear going down his face as memories of his wife arose. _'Keith, I love you'_

'_I promise, Keith. I'll never leave you'_

'_Keith…'_

'_Keith, you know I'll never do anything to hurt you'_

The next morning, they were off. Before they left, Flora went up to Keith. "Keith… I'm really sorry that I brought up those memories. It was selfish of me, and…" Keith walked up to her and hugged her. "Flora, it's alright. It wasn't your fault" Christian walked up to them. "Keith… I'm sorry I insulted you like that… you know, with… insulting you and smacking you to the other side of the camp… so, sorry" Keith let go of Flora and looked at him. "It's alright, I hit Flora so… I guess were even now…" he said. "No, no… look, I owe you one favor, how about that?" Christian asked. "Fair enough" Keith said. After a couple of days of hiking, they had came upon a port city. "Well, looks like we can get a boat here… hey, Flora, how you doing?" Christian asked. **"I'M FINE!" **Flora yelled. "Okay, jeez… touchy, guys, I'm gonna go arrange us a boat… with that templars funds, we can afford it" Keith raised a hand. "Wait, you drained the bank accounts of the templar you killed?"

"Yeah, guy was loaded… I went to the bank before we left… stay here, I'll be back in a minute" he made his way down to the city, and was pointed in the direction of a ship master, until he saw who it was… "Okay, I know I've seen you somewhere before… aren't you the guy that owned that tavern?" Christian asked as he saw a familiar man in brown clothing and brown hair with blue eyes. "I'm sorry, you must be mistaking me with someone else… what can I do for you?" the ship master asked. "Okay… I need a ship arranged to transport three to the basitin islands. Can you arrange it?" Christian asked. "Well, of course. I can have a ship ready for you as soon as possible. But it's going to be at least a day to gather the supplies and men. I hope that's alright? We can arrange payment later" Christian shrugged. "Sure, why not dude?" the ship master smiled. "Good" Christian stopped at the tailors, bought a white shirt and black robe, both with a templar symbol, and went back to Keith and Flora and told them how long it would take to get a boat. "Eh, Christian, I don't know about this…" flora commented. "Yes, I agree with Flora. We shouldn't stay here very long" Keith said. "Well, unless you want to steal a boat and get to the islands with a crew of three, we need to wait here a day for the boats. Plus, it's only a day. What could possibly happen?" Flora and Keith groaned and face-palmed. "Oh, dang it… sorry, here, put these on, it'll make you guys look less suspicious" Christian said, throwing them the cloths. One change of cloths later, Flora was wearing nothing but the white shirt, and Keith the black robe. "This is… humiliating" Keith said. "Yeah, well, too bad, we need it… c'mon, lets go" with that, they all walked into the city. "We should check into that tavern" Keith said. "Yeah, because nothing weird happens whenever we go into one of those…" Christian remarked. They checked in, and were currently sitting down at a table in the inn. Christian and Keith were talking when Christian felt Flora wrap her tail around his leg. "uh… Flora, your tail…" Christian said. Flora blushed. "Well, sorry! It's not all that easy, I'm trying to control myself as best I can" she said. "Yeah, I know, just stop… people will start to stare…"

"I'll… try harder, I guess. It's just frustrating. Our relationship isn't all that strong yet, but… you know… I… I really love you" Christian blushed. "Well, yeah, I know… wait… wait, you what?" he stood up, blushing, and walked towards the exit. "Uh, ya know, I here the crows here are pretty tasty this time of year…" Flora grabbed his 'sleeve' and turned him around to look at him, tears in her eyes. "Christian, don't… don't you love me too?" she asked. _'Oh, man… I didn't know she felt this way… I thought we were just dating! She… she just…' _he looked at Keith for support, but he shrugged. He looked at Flora, than pulled away. "Flora, I… I don't know if I should… you just look too much like her…"

"Like who!? Is it that girl you won't tell me about? Were you lying when you said I was the first girl you met?" she asked. "No, Flora… look, I do like you…" she ran over and hugged him. "Than why won't you admit it?" she asked. "Uh, look, it's just… all of a sudden. I think we both need time to think" se walked away, saying, "this place has running water, and my sense of smell is better than a sharks, and uh… I think you could use a bath. Anyone gives you trouble, get Keith. If he can't help, get me. Bye" with that he left. _'Wait… did he just say that I… smell?' _Flora thought to herself. Fifteen minutes later (and three unconscious bouncers thanks to Christian) she was soaking in the public baths. "Darn that Christian. I should have clawed his eyes out like I wanted to. Not that it would have helped, they would have grown back… the jerk" she heard the door creak open and a blonde human girl walked in. "Huh. Christian?" Flora asked. The blonde girl smiled. "Oh, hey. I didn't expect a keidran in the public baths" Flora sinked as far into the water as she could. _'Ah! A human…' _she thought. "Can you talk? What's your name?" the woman asked. "F-Flora…" she answered. "Oh, mind if I join you, Flora? I'm not here to hurt you" the woman said, going naked and slipping into the pool. "Your that weird guy's keidran, aren't you? The guy that was eating a live crow? I've actually been wanting to talk with you"

"With… me?" Flora asked. "Yeah. You think I'm a templar, don't you? Truth is, I am. But I'm also a member of the _resistance_. I can help you if you want. I can get you out of here. I can take you home!" the woman stated. "Go… home?" Flora asked. Outside, Christian was mulling over himself. "You know, I never really imagined me getting into this situation… I always thought I would live my entire life in that mansion. Funny how fate turns out. Wonder how Keith and Flora are doing? Eh, probably fine… just need to wait for that boat then we can spend months… in the ocean… with no land… just water… aw, crap… I didn't think this through. You know, I never really did get a good look at my claws…" he shifted his hand into a claw, and examined it. In all honestly, it looked pretty cool. If he ever needed to cut the crust of some bread, he would be there… cutting the crust off bread. He heard a "Nyaa!" and Flora pounced on him, luckily he shifted his hand back to normal just in time. "CHRISTIAN! Help me! I'm being chased by a templar person!" Christian looked at her angrily. She had almost exposed him… "Flora! What are you doing!? Do you realize what you almost… I told you to wait, dang it!" Christian yelled. Flora looked at him with tears in her eyes, thought going through her head. _'you were supposed to… supposed to wa… wait…'_

'_oh, no…'_

'_stop it!'_

'_it's not going to work this time…'_

'_cut it out!'_

'_don't even try!' _she ran away, crying. "Waaaaaa!" she wailed. "Flora, wait, I'm sorry! What is it with me and blowing everything, lately?" Christian asked himself, than walked after Flora. He went upstairs to the tavern, and found a old dude pounding a door. "Get out of there! You crazy keidran! Ya can't just run in and take a room like it was yours! You flee-bitten animal! I'm telling you, get out!" he yelled. "Uh, problem?" Christian asked. "Yes, is that your keidran that ran in there?" oldy asked. "Yes, _Flora_ is with me" Christian said. "Well, she just ran in that room. You know how many night's in the dungeon…" Christian formed his arm into a blade and held it to oldy's throat. "How 'bout we just take it for free?" Christian asked. "Uh, y-y-yes, m-mas… master, a-a-anything else…?" he asked. "Nah, I'm good. Now scat. You tell anyone what you saw, and I'll make sure who to visit and… bear my claws for a friendly chat too" Christian stated as oldy ran off. Christian walked into the room flora ran into. "Uh, Flora… I'm sorry I yelled at you… can we talk?" he looked into the corner and spotted Flora, getting ready to pounce. "Flora, I can see you right their… can we please talk?" she looked stunned. "What the… how do you see me? I have pretty good night vision, and it's hard even for me to see in here!" she asked. "Part of my vi-eyes. Look, I feel bad for making you cry… can we please talk?" he asked again. "Okay…" he motioned for her to sit on the bed, and they both sat down. Flora spoke first. "Ever since we've been here it seems like you've been acting… different. Giving me orders and ignoring what I say. I hat it. It's almost as if you really think of me as your slave"

"You know how much I'm against that"

"I know… or… I think I know. But it really does hurt. I don't want to feel like a slave again" she inched over and leaned against him. "Look, Flora, I do what I do to protect you. People hate keidran, and I can't change peoples opinion without killing them… or at least very severe threats. With bloodshed included with those threats"

"Yeah, I… wait, what?"

"But I'll stop… anyone has a problem, they can run that by the "scary crow-eater guy" department. No more pretending to be a slave" Christian proclaimed. "Mhmh" Flora said. "… I say all that, and all you say is "mhhm?"" he looked at her to see her blushing. "Heehee…" she giggled. "Why are you… wait… your still in warm, aren't you!?"

"That's right…"

"Flora, stop… dang it, stop Flora! Were not doing this!"

"Aw… why not?"

"Your not ready… _I'm_ not ready! I'm not even old enough!"

"What?" she asked, snapping out of it. "Nothing. Look, what your going through is hard. I get that. You just need to be left alone for awhile… look, I'm gonna go… I dunno, hunt for more crows or something. Were cool, right?" Christian asked. "…Yeah…" Christian smiled. "Good. Get some rest" he walked out of the room as she passed out. Later, Keith walked in. "Flora? Hey, Flora! Wake up, will ya?" Flora cracked her eyes open and sat up. "Mrrrr… Huh? Wha-? Wake up? I must have fallen asleep… how long have I been out?" she asked. Keith came up with a tray of food. "You've been asleep for more than a full day. Here, I thought you could use something to eat"

"a whole day?" Flora asked as she looked out a window, and gasped at the busy streets. "Yeah, I was- er… Christian was getting worried" Keith said. "I think… it's because I've been exhausted from being in heat so long… without-mer…!" she shoved Keith away, spilling the food. "Get out of here! Quick!" she yelled. "Oops…" Flora said when she saw spilled tea on Keith's robe. Keith sighed, and said, "Flora… you don't have… _that problem _anymore…"

"What? Oh… you're right. I was afraid I might jump you… how'd you know that?" Flora asked. "Because I'm not… eh… _affected_ by it anymore" Keith said as Flora pulled him up. "OH! Hehe, I'm sorry!"

"I need to go wash up… you can get more food downstairs" he was about to walk out when he heard Flora sigh. "Is there a problem, Flora?" Keith asked. "It's just… Christian kept mentioning this girl… Aya… and he won't tell me about it. It just upsets me that he just keeps keeping secrets like that" Flora stated. "Do you want me to talk to him about it?" Keith asked. "That would be nice… thanks" Flora said. "Sure thing" Keith said as he walked out… and bumped into Christian. "Oh, hey Keith, I was on my way to see if Flora was up yet, we need to hit the boat… what happened to your robe?" he asked. "Oh, I already visited her, and she freaked out because she thought she would pounce me… she's not in heat anymore, by the way. Actually, that reminds me… she wanted me to talk to you about… what was her name… Aya?" Keith asked. Christian sighed. "Man, I was hoping she would forget that… fine, I'll tell you in the common room… meet me there" Keith nodded, and they walked off. When Keith washed his robe, they both sat in different chairs facing a fireplace. "So… Aya… look, Keith, I'm gonna be honest, that's a touchy topic for me, but… Aya was my sister" Christian explained. "Was? You lost her?" Keith asked. "…You could say that. That's why this relationship with Flora is weird"

"Why?"

"Man, you don't get it… Flora is a perfect rendering of her. Same voice, same posture, talks the same lingo, she wasn't as tall as Flora, since Flora is as tall as me… Aya was even eleven, and so is Flora… in human years at least. It just feels like I'm dating my sister, sort of. Barring the fact that their a different species… they're almost exactly alike" Christian explained. "I see…" Keith said.

"Hmmm… did Keith say the food was this way…? I can't remember…" Flora was mulling over herself when she heard Keith's voice. "I see…" she heard. "Mew?" she leaned against a wall and strained to hear the conversation. "So, if she were to ever come back… what would be your reaction?" Keith continued. "Keith, I… I loved her. Still love her. I blame myself for what happened, but… if she were to come back… I don't know…"

"Would you dump Flora over her?" Keith asked. "What the hell kind of question is that?" Christian demanded. "I don't know, just throwing it out their… would you?"

"I don't know… maybe if certain circumstances weren't their… maybe, I dunno…" Flora stepped back in horror. _'He lied to me… there is another girl he met before me… and he loves her over me…'_ the blonde woman from before walked up to her. "Oh, Flora, there you are! I've been looking for you. I hope you've considered my offer. I'm sure you want to get back to your **keidran** family. After all, you are a **keidran**. And I know a **keidran **like yourself must want to be around other **keidran**, am I right? You'll be free to do **keidran **things, all the **keidran **time!" she quipped. "Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Flora cried as she ran away. "Was it something I said?" Blondie asked. "Did you hear that?" Keith asked. "Yeah, sounded like Flora… let me go check it out" Christian said as he got up. He walked over to a sobbing Flora and tried to talk to her. "Flora, what's-"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she yelled as she clawed him in the face, than ran off crying. "Flora, what… why… aw, man, what did I do now?" Christian asked himself. _'He loves a human over me… I don't deserve someone like him, he seems pretty happy with Aya, even though she's in a different world'_ Flora thought as she trudged into her room.

Christian was sitting at a table the next day when Keith came up. "The ship master said he needed another day for supplies to come in… what do you want?" Christian asked. "I can't take it anymore" Keith stated. "Christian! If you haven't noticed, Flora's been sulking since yesterday. What'd you say to her?"

"Nothing! Last time we spoke was before she passed out for a whole day! I only had contact with her when we heard her nya while… we were… talking about…" Christian face-palmed in realization. "Oh, for the love of… she must have heard part of our conversation and misinterpreted what we said and thinks I love some human girl over her…" Christian explained. "Oh, I see…" Keith said. "Well, you've still kinda abandoned Flora. I think you better go and talk with her"

"Yeah, I need to tell her that she's my sister…" Christian said as he walked towards her room.

In Flora's room, Blondie walked in to see a crying Flora. "Flora, are you in here?" she asked. "It's me again. I know I haven't made a very good impression, but I can't stand to see you sad. I really, really want to help you out of here. I haven't even introduced myself… they call me Ephemural"

The group from the tavern had been looking for 'Trace' for days, and had stumbled into the port city. "Are you sure this is the right way?" Purple asked a waitress from a tavern. "Yeas, I think I would remember someone like… _him_" she replied. "Hey, guys, I think we lost Rain! Whoa! Why is the ground moving?" Red asked as the ground shook. "Look up there!" Green pointed. The roof of the tavern exploded, and Flora floated through… robed, and wearing a strange stone mask. "Wha-what is that? Wait…no-! impossible… it's Ephemural! Maren, you and Karen go on ahead and find Trace!" Red said. "What about you?" Green-Karen- asked. Red pulled a sword out. "Well… I may not be the most powerful of the templar… but as a templar, it is my duty to protect the people" he stated. Christian ran outside the tavern to investigate the explosion. "Okay, taverns have it out against me, I know this now… wait, Flora… what the hell!?" Christian shouted as he saw Flora. "Christian… he betrayed you… you must be strong… take care of yourself… Christian… it's his fault…" Flora whispered to herself. "Flora, what happened to you!?" Christian asked. "Christian!" Keith ran up to him. "It's Neutral! She's possessing Flora and tainting her mind!" Keith explained. "What, like a ghost?" Christian asked. "Wrong, Keith…" Fl-Neutral said, than continued, "I am only saying what Flora cannot. These are her true feeling…"

"That's a fatter lie than my old pet bunny" Christian said.

"She needs to know that human's cannot ever be trusted" Neutral continued. "She is stubborn, but with my help, she will realize it"

"Heh, like that even applies to me… let her go or else" Christian said. "Oh, yes, I forgot what you are… and what will you do, you abomination of nature?" Neutral asked. _'How does she…' _Neutral cut off Christian's thoughts. "There is a great war coming, with balance hanging from a thread. You two will determine the outcome, but you cannot be on the same side! Once she accepted my help, it was easy… I needed her to willingly want my help, even if it was only for a second. I have you to thank for that"

"Oh, really? And what exactly did I help with?" Christian asked. "You really have no idea… Flora had fallen in love with you. A stupid little girl following dreams. And your words mean everything to her. Remember Aya?" Neutral asked. Christian's hood shadow glowed red. "What does she have to do with this!? So what if I was still pained by the past? So what if I couldn't admit to her who she was… so what if I couldn't admit to her, that because of her similarity to Aya, that… that I couldn't…"

"**THAT YOU WHAT?"** Neutral yelled. "That… ugh, how is it your business anyway!?" Christian asked, before Neutral flew down and cast a spell at him, hurtling him into a wall. "I knew it! You can't even admit it yourself! Heh, this seems familiar… except you looked quite different when I observed you. Do you remember? Right before you met Flora?"

"The only thing that happened between that mansion and meeting her was coming to this world" Christian stated. "Ah, so ignorant… it was me that brought you here"

"You… you brought me here? So, what… you want to put me back?"

"I'm afraid not. The spell that brought you here was ancient and powerful… so much that it took the will of all the masks… and destroyed your dimension. Your home is gone, Christian" Christian picked himself up and looked at her. "Gone…? But… why? Why did you do this?" he asked. "You see, Christian, in your place was supposed to be Trace. I was to erase his memories and he was to travel with Flora. But I underestimated him, and killed him by accident while trying to erase his memories so he wouldn't kill Flora. I needed a replacement. Someone of similar age so he could be naïve and equal or greater power. I had to delve into different dimensions, but everyone was either to old or too weak… than I happened upon you. You fit the description perfectly, so I pulled you here… alas, without a home, this is your world now" Neutral explained. Christian stepped forward, ready to rip her apart, then stopped. "Heh… is that all you have to say? I'm not that mad…"

"Wha-? Y-you're supposed to want to hurt me, and kill Flora! Why… why won't you?" Christian chuckled… darkly. "Why would I be that mad? I lost everyone I cared about that night. I had no-one to go to, no-one to love, and to be honest, my world was going to shit anyway. This place… no industrial pollution, simple lives… and I found my first girl. I said it before, when I first met her- I prefer this world to mine. I should thank you, really" Christian explained. Electricity arced all over Neutral. "Fine! We'll do it the hard way! So, you wish to fight a god? **Fine by me**!" she channeled yellow electricity into her hand, and shot it at Christian. Christian looked around for something to shield him, and saw a fallen watermelon from a fruit stand. He picked it up, and threw it at the lightning, the watermelon exploding and the lightning nowhere to be seen. Neutral flew up to Christian's face, saying, "You used… a watermelon… I mean, really… a watermelon? Come on…" Christian shrugged. "Uh… heh?" Christian laughed weakly as he was smacked by Neutral, the force dragging him against the ground and leaving a twenty foot long trail. "Why won't you just give up already?" Neutral asked. "This would be so much simpler. There's no use struggling! Just forget about Flora! Why won't you fight me? I know your holding back you true abilities. Make it easy for yourself!"

"No… I can't"

"Why not? Why!?"

"Because she would know what I am, and see me as a monster. She wouldn't love me anymore. And if that happens…"

"But she's just a keidran! You could have any human female you wanted! Or if your into keidran, what's stopping you? You could have anyone with your power!"

"I can't just be with someone because they're the same race as me! 'Cause nobody here is the same race as me… I'm all alone. I'm a walking virus. There's no-one like me. And Flora… she's the only thing that reminds me of Aya. Without her, and her voice, or her face, or anything, I would forget her, because I have nothing else that reminds me of her. It's because of this quality of Flora, the reason I couldn't admit it to her, because I thought she would just see me as using her for a walking portrait, but I don't. it's because of that quality… that I love her back" Christian confessed. "Y-you're not supposed to be able to say that! I saw the future! This isn't what happens!" Christian chuckled. "Never trust magic… I learned that on that night" Neutral snapped his neck and slowly flew off as he regenerated. "This is over" Neutral proclaimed. "Even if you can admit you love her, she will never hear it while I'm here. And that's all that matters. My mission is done. I will bring Flora back to her home, and seal her memories" Christian finished regenerating and looked at her. _'Ugh, no… I can't stop her without harming Flora… but she'll take her away… what do I do?' _BONK! Someone threw a rock at his head. "Trace, what are you doing? Stop her!" he looked over to see the purple woman- Maren, and Karen from the tavern… Karen who was sitting in a chair with popcorn and a "Go TRACE!" flag. "You're not gunna take that, are you?" Karen continued. "It took me forever to get this stuff set up! I wanna see bloodshed!" Maren stared at her. "Karen, can't you be serious for once in your life?" she asked her, than looked at Christian. "Seriously, Trace, I don't know what's going on, entirely. But you have to do something!"

"I already told you I'm not Trace! And how do you keep finding me!? And if I use my powers, I'll kill her!"

"Maybe you just need a little help?" Christian looked over to the new voice to see… "Oh, for fuck's sake, what the hell are you doing here, Euchre?"

"Nice to see you, to. I must say, I have to agree with this human"

"But I thought you were a brotherly figure to her! You would fight her? If Aya was alive and in this situation, I sure wouldn't!"

"Me? Heck, no! I'd be killed!" Christian face-palmed. "Nice to see you're a team player, Euchre"

"Listen Christian, it's true that the masks know everything. Past, present, and future. But there's one thing that they cannot predict…"

"Erg… you stay out of this! Die, you mortal kei-Wait…! What!? Where did you…" neutral flew back and shot lightning at Euchre, but he disappeared and reappeared on the roof of a building, shirtless and sword in hand with some weird glowing blue tribal tattoo on his right arm. "Heheheh, looks like you're a little too slow" Euchre said, than faced Christian, saying, "Christian, listen to me. You cannot be afraid of the power you have. Yes, your powers are bloody and brutal, but you control them, not the other way around. They can do good things, too. You just need to discover what those good things are. It's all up to you, Christian. But you have to act. You must fight! I cannot fight her for you. Catch!" he threw Christian his sword, which he caught. "H-how dare you-!" Neutral said. "Fight her, Christian. Get Flora back!" Euchre encouraged. "Heheh… very inspiring… Euchre. Did you think so too, boy?" neutral asked. "Meh, there were some fine-point details missing from there, but I think I got the gist of it" Christian answered. "So… are you ready to fight me… for real this time!?" Neutral asked, getting ready to cast a spell. "Wait, last time wasn't for real!? Alright, fine, I'ma carve that mask off Flora's face!" he swung the sword at the stone mask, creating a shattering sound. He looked at the ground to see pieces… "Yeah, that's right, bitch! That's how I roll… er, swing! Wait a minute… my sword…" …of his sword lying on the ground, and Neutral completely fine. Christian looked at the hilt and the half of the sword still attached to it, then looked up at Euchre. "What the hell, Euchre!? You gave me a faulty sword!" Neutral chuckled. "I wouldn't try that gain if I were you. You know, the reason we need hosts is because we feed on their energy. And every time you attack me, you force me to use up a little bit more of Flora. Bit after bit… she slowly turns into an empty shell of a keidran… oh well… maybe that's better for her after all…" on the roof, Euchre was putting a white robe on while talking to the templar spy master behind him. "Hm… she has a stronger hold on Flora than I had thought. If only I could help… interfere… but there's nothing I can do… I am bound by the rules… but… I'm sure everything will turn out alright in the end" the spy master spoke, "Don't worry… I believe I've done enough interfering for the both of us. How are thing's progressing?" he asked. "Not favorably, I'm afraid. Ephemural is trying to reveal what Christian really is, and it seems to be working" back on the street, Neutral was leering at Christian. "How does it feel, Christian? To be helpless? Weak? Unable to do anything because you choose to? How does it feel, that you have the capacity to kill hundreds of thousands of people, but you choose not to, and yet…"

"Christian, please, don't listen!" Euchre pleaded. Neutral continued, "You are unable to save the life of _one _person… even when that one person… is just… a keidran bitch" Something in Christian snapped. He felt a familiar presence in him… something he hasn't felt since… since before he came here… that form he took and killed everyone in the city… that building-sized form. "Is it already too late?" the spy master asked. "No… Christian has regained his bestial form, but he refuses to use it. He truly wishes to keep what he is a secret… even though that form could end this now" tendrils were swirling around Christian's body, but he willed himself not to transform. A voice spoke inside him, saying, _'Let me out… I need to kill them all… I need to rip, to tear, to maim, to mutilate… __**LET ME OUT, CHRISTIAN!**__' _Christian clenched his head and willed the tendrils back in his body. "No! I can't… you'll kill my friends and reveal me… no…"

"This… this isn't supposed to happen! I suppressed that form!" Neutral shrieked. "Hah, well, what good will that form do you? You'll just kill your friends with it" the tendrils left, and Christian looked at Neutral. "Which is why I won't use them" Christian stated. "I don't understand… why won't he use the form?" the spy master asked. "Because…" Euchre answered, "The form fully utilizes his mad side… a gift from his father, I imagine. If he uses it, he wins but his friends die. If he doesn't, Neutral takes Flora away… their at a stalemate, it seems"

"This is insane. You have to do something" the spy master said. "You know I can't do anything. I am not to interfere-"

"You and your rules! Don't you get it, Euchre? That's Flora out there, your sister-practically. At least Christian doesn't let power go to his head…"

"I did not make the rules… sigh, you are right. Perhaps I _have _been worrying too much about the rules. I will interfere… once… Christian is the one that must get Flora back… but I can point him in the right direction" Euchre's eyes glowed green, and he cast a spell on Christian, ingulfing him in a white mist. "Hey, what the… what's with the fog?" Christian asked. He looked around to see nothing but white, when he heard Euchre's voice say, _"Christian, you've forgotten…"_

"Euchre, where am I?"

"_Forgotten…" _he was shown a vision of when Christian and Flora first met, and she was getting ready to pounce him. "What the… this is when we first met… why are you showing me this, Euchre?" the vision turned back white. _"Forgotten…" _

"Okay, Euchre, it would help if you would stop being so dang cryptic…" he was shown a vision of when Keith and Flora first met, and Christian had to stop Keith from killing Flora. "Heh, good times… Euchre, exactly what… have I… forgotten…" he was shown a vision of his and Flora's first kiss. "Yeah, Euchre, I get it… I'm trying to _save _Flora, that's why I kept that form _in_. what's the point of this?" Back in the real world, Neutral looked at Euchre. "Ahah! I see you've chosen to break the rules. But you know full well of the consequences… what a noble sacrifice… for such a petty cause… I hate having to strike you down while you are defenseless, however… I have risked too much already. Once you are out of the way… I shall depart… with this little keidran…" she teleported behind Euchre, slipped a dagger out of her sleeve, and slashed him across the chest. Christian and Flora were kissing in the vision when the landscape broke and vision Flora cried out in pain. "What the… yo, something's happening!"

"…sister…" Euchre said as he bled out. "Christian, snap out of it! Christian?" Keith asked. "She's on the roof! That's it, I'm going after her" Red said. "No, you can't!" Keith argued. "Yeah… the roof… I hear Flora… she's… trying to talk to me…" Christian mumbled. "That was completely unnecessary, Ephemural" the spy master said. "That keidran was an innocent-"

"No-one is innocent. He knew the rules" Neutral retorted. "We all break rules…"

"Not as long as I'm around. Would you care to join him?"

"Oh no, of course not. I wouldn't dream of interfering with your work now. Especially considering I already have. You know what this is?" spy asked, pulling out a subtlestone, "Your wearing one just like it, you see" Neutral looked at her chest to see a glowing red spot. "What!? Where did this come from?" Neutral asked as she pulled the necklace out. "…This? A little human bauble?" she asked. "Yes, but one of my own desings"

"Hmph… I don't see what you thought you could accomplish with this little thing" on the street, Christian was mumbling to himself. "Flora, yo, where are you… your still there, right…?"

"Grr… what is that thing muttering about? It should know by now that Flora isn't…" suddenly, Flora's thoughts and memories from since she met Christian rippled through her head. "Agh! What is this? What are all these thoughts? No, get away! What's going on? This is impossible!" Neutral screamed. A muttering Christian woke up in another dreamscape. "Ugh… where am I know?" he looked to his right and saw a naked Flora floating in the nothingness. "Euchre, start explaining…" Christian demanded. _"no… not Euchre…"_ a different voice said. "and you would be…?"

"_I can't explain, I don't have much time. Listen to me, Christian. In order to free Flora, you need to be able to reach her. But you can't… however, the necklace… it links you two together. What you are seeing is her soul. This is your chance, Christian. If she truly loves you, she will hear it" _the voice explained. Christian reached out and held Flora's arm. "Flora, we need to go… c'mon… wake up…" she wouldn't wake up. _'Well, here goes everything…' _Christian thought, than said, "Flora… I know I should have said this sooner, I can explain why I didn't, but, the truth is… ever since we got to know each other… I loved you, too" she cracked her eyes open. In the real world, Neutral grasped her head in pain. "Aaaarg! Gah! You infuriating little cold! You've gotten in my way for the last time. I tried to be nice about this, Christian, but you leave me with no alternative. I will make sure you never… eh… you… nev… wait… what the-?" she tried to channel magic, but none came out. A feminine voice chuckled behind her. "Having a… bit of trouble, Neutral? I don't find that… -cough- very surprising" Neutral looked over her shoulder. "What-? You again! What would you know?" she looked to see the spy master… and an old woman holding the body of Euchre. "I… know what it's like to be tricked into your… control" she said, than continued, "Just as you did with that young… keidran. You promised me my humanity back, but controlled me- cough- as a price for it. My dear Euchre… because of him, your hold on that keidran is fading. It's over, Neutral! You cannot use her soul for her magic any longer. Soon you won't be able to control her at all" Neutral rushed her. "Why… you… little… I can still make her kill you!" Christian jumped on the roof, and considering Keith or the tavern people didn't couldn't see him, formed his arm into a blade and stepped in front of the woman. "Yo, behind me, now! Neutral, this blade is stronger than a sword… so this time, the mask is coming off!" he slashed his blade at her mask, and it shattered. He formed his arm back to a human one so no-one else could see it, than watched as the mask and robe evaporated off Flora, leaving her naked and standing at the ledge of the building… asleep. "Mom. Are you okay? You ran off and-" Christian looked over too see the white-haired woman from before hold the old woman. _'Mom? Well, they certainly do look alike…' _Christian thought, than the mom cut white off. "I… I'm fine! Look!"

"Flora!" Keith gasped. "That's impossible!" Red shouted. "Woohoo Flora!" Karen cheered. "Flora… your all normal and not murderess… you K?" still unconscious, she muttered "die…" than accidently walked off the edge. "Oh no's!" Christian shouted, than in a blue blur, he dashed over and caught her, his hood shadow going back black. "Thank goodness he managed to catch her" Keith said. "I was afraid I'd have to be crushed trying to catch her. Darn that stupid keidran. She's going to give me a heart attack someday"

"Oh, whine, whine, whine, Keith! I just defeated a mask and saved Flora! Lighten the heck up!" Christian shouted from the rooftop. "What? I got good hearing, too…" he said, than jumped down, landing softly on the ground. "Isn't it wonderful? He saved that poor little keidran!" White exclaimed. "Quiet, Raine! Don't you forget, the keidran- cough- are still are enemies" her mother said. "Enemies? How can you say that? After you-"

"Enough! This… is not the time. I still feel unsure about all this… this all seems too easy… but… what if she really… really is gone?" Christian was walking away, and Keith caught up to him. "Hey Christian, I know you aren't exhausted, but… you want some help?" he asked. "Nah, I'm good… I'm gonna lay her down in the tavern… she needs rest, she did just get possessed. Go help the others, please?" Christian asked. "Sure" Keith answered, than ran off to the others. Christian walked into the tavern and layed her down on a bed, locking the door behind him, and pulled a chair up to her bed and sat in it, looking at Flora, and whispering, "Eh, might as well pass out next to her to pass the time 'till she wakes up…" he leaned closer to her ear so she could hear him. "It's okay Flora, just rest… it's over now… it's over" he said, before he closed his eyes and fell unconscious in the chair.


	4. Chapter 4

**ANOMALY**

**Episode 4- Arrival**

"Heya, fuzzyears!" Karen greeted as she and Maren tried to force their way through Keith into the room he was guarding. "I demand you to let me see Trace right now!" Maren demanded. "Look, I'm getting tired of you guys, so I'll say this: A) that isn't Trace Legacy. He's dead, that guy in there is just a blue weirdo. B) he's pretty steamed right now, and if you barge in there, well… he doesn't like you either, so he'll probably kill you" Keith explained. "That's a lie! I know for a fact that that's Trace in their! Do you know who I am?" Maren asked. "He ain't, and I don't care"

"Why, if I could find me a templar that hadn't run away I'd…" inside the room, Flora cracked her eyes open upon hearing the argument outside. "Mew? Mmm… I just had the strangest dream" she rolled over to see Christian's unconscious body in a chair. She poked him, but he was out cold. "Huh, Christian? Did… he stay by my bed because he knew I was upset?" she went still for a moment in thought, than smiled, than dragged his body into bed with her and wrapped her arms around him as he slept. "Come on, Christian, come to bed"

"Meh feh meh… zombies…" Christian muttered in his sleep. "Shhh, no need to wake up. Just… -yawn- sleep" Flora muttered as she too feel asleep.

'_What the hell were those things!?' _Christian asked. _'I'm scared…' _Aya cried. _'Look, Aya, I don't know what's going on, or what those things were, but were gonna find Father, and were gonna… who are you?' _Christian asked. _'A… business man' _a voice answered.

Christian was dreaming when his face… the part not covered anyway… hit something warm and furry. "What the…?" he looked up to see Flora next to him, smiling. "mmm, good morning, Christian" Flora greeted. "Hey… why am I in your bed?" Christian asked. "Hehe, I couldn't let you sleep in that chair all day, could I?" Flora questioned, before jumping on Christian. "Oh, not again, get off me, Flora, I'm not legal!" Keith was walking towards Christian's and Flora's room, a tray with two glasses of water in hand. "Eh, they've been asleep all day. They're probably thirsty. Might as well… Can't wait 'till Flora wakes up. Then we can get out of here. Christian! I got some stuff I thought you… would… want…" he walked into the room to see Flora snuggling up to Christian, a smile on her face and Christian's mouth in a frown. "Heya, Keith!" Flora greeted. "…Help me…" Christian said. "Oh, uh… sorry for interrupting" Keith said before running off. "Keith, get back here and get me off her!" Christian pleaded as Flora pounced on him. "Look, Flora… uh, I need to go… do something, so… uh, yeahseeya!" he slipped his form from under her and sprinted out of the room, locking the door behind him. "Keith, why is it that whenever she does that, you run off? You know I don't want that!" Christian yelled. "I don't believe in getting in the middle of lover's… moments. Anyway, I need to tell you something. It's Euchre. His… he's just gone"

"Yeah, he's gone… he died, remember? Much to my pleasure…"

"That's not what I meant! Just… look outside. And don't let the other humans see you. Their still convinced your Trace" Christian sighed and held the bridge of his nose. "Idiots…" he said as they walked outside… to see nothing but woods. "…Don't tell me I went insane in my sleep and threw the whole city in the ocean…" Christian moaned. "No, Christian, that whole city… I think it was just an illusion… only an image of a city that once existed"

"Dude, screw magic and everything it cares about! And screw everything it stands for!"

"Christian, are you alright?"

"No, Keith, I'm furious! Magic always screws over my life! Wasting my time with a fake city, making it hard to kill people, brought my Dad's experiments back from the dead… man, I HATE MAGIC!" Christian yelled. "…Wait, what was that last one?" Keith asked. "Nothing, man, just… give me a minute to cope" Christian moaned. "No, your not blowing this one off, you said, "Bring back from the dead"… what do you mean?"

"Mind your own business, Keith, my Father and my past are none of your concern"

"I want to know what you meant by that"

"You know what, Keith? Screw you, too. I don't pry into your life. You wanna spill your entire life story to me? Huh? No? Well, then forget it, 'cause I'm not talking" Keith looked taken back. "jeez, you don't have to be so harsh… anyway, does this place seem… I don't know, familiar to you?" Keith asked. "I don't know, maybe it was a campsite we used, why?"

"No reason, just seems familiar… your probably right, anyway, I scouted ahead, and I found a strange symbol on the map… we need to get going" just then, Flora walked out and hugged Christian. "I thought you were out of luke-warm" Christian said. "Heat! And I am. This is just what girlfriends do to boyfriends. I thought you should know, since I'm the first girl you ever met"

"Your not gonna ever let that go, are you"? Christian asked. "Nope!" Flora said. "Wait, you were serious? She's seriously the first girl you ever met that's not related to you? Ever?" Keith asked with a smirk. "No, just… my Mom and Aya… shut up, my Dad never let us off the mansion expanse!" Christian yelled. Keith chuckled. "Well, I guess this means we should do some celebration… after all, the first girl you ever see is quite a big thing" he said. "Keith, I swear, one day their will be a moment… whether it be an awkward one like, oh, I don't know, someone you really care about see's you naked, or you have a gay moment… one day, their will be a moment where you will be flushed in embarrassment, and when that happens, I swear I will make the worst of that situation for you, using every ounce of my morale fiber… you have been warned, Keith" Christian proclaimed. "Is that supposed to scare me?" Keith asked. "Just give me the ding-dong-dang map…" Christian said. Keith gave him the map, and he looked it over. "Okay, uh… so, were somewhere in the shrubbery, I think, and we need to get to port… so, uh… man, I am not good at reading maps…" Christian muttered. "Trace, listen to reason. Do you even know what your doing? Trace, come back with us to the templar, we can help!" Maren said upon coming out of the tavern. Christian turned to her, sighing. "Okay, I'm getting tired of you people. When ever I see you guys, something bad happens! I met Keith, you melted me, you walked in on me and Flora and forced me to knock you guys out…"

"Wait, how was meeting me bad!?"

"Don't interrupt me. And oh, yeah! For the grand flip'in finale, got Flora possessed by a mask and I had to fight her for thirty minutes and blew the town up!" he looked over his shoulder to see a shocked Flora. "Wait… that wasn't a dream?"

"Oh, wha? Naw, that all happened for real, you should have seen it, their was an explosion, you shot lightning, it was pretty awesome… wait, that reminds me, Keith, what did you hear between me and Neutral?" Christian asked. "Nothing really, I was too focused on helping fake people run away" Keith answered. "Yeah, let's keep it that way. Oh, and before I forget…" he turned to Maren. "I AIN'T FREAKIN TRACE! I don't even know where you got that idea! I mean… come on! That dude was like, what, twenty four? I'm only si- oh, -cough cough- I mean, just because I like blue doesn't mean I'm him!"

"They're just making you think that because of the curse the keidran put on you!"

"They did not- ya know what? Screw it, think what you wanna, I'm done dealing with you crazy people"

"So… you'll come back with us?"

"Hell to the no! and I was never with you in the first place!"

"Why not!? So you can help these… animals?"

"if Flora weren't here, you'd be dead for saying that"

"Listen to me Trace-"

"Eh! Not Trace!"

"Whatever! Were dangerously close to the keidran! You can't keep wandering out here!"

"A few biped dogs and cats can't even hope to stop me" Red spoke up from the balcony. "Tra-"

"Christian, damnit!"

"Fine, Christian… if your gonna go, you better go now. The templar will think to look here. After all, you used to live here, before Sari…" Christian jumped up the balcony and grabbed Red by the throat, his hood shadow glowing red. "I… never… lived… here. I lived in a mansion in the woods all my life. Go back to the templar, and leave us alone. _Now_" his hood shadow went black and he dropped Red. "Jeez, man… didn't have to be so forceful… anyway, Maren, the council called all the templar back to the stronghold. We gotta go anyway" Maren looked flustered. "Hey, who's side are you on here? And why would the council do something like that? They never called all of us back before" Christian threw his arms up. "That's your problem. Man, the world ain't right when the guy with red hair makes sense… I'm out, peace! Keith, where'd ya go!?" he walked past everyone in the room and found Keith at the other side of the tavern. "Hey" Keith greeted. I packed all the supplies I could find, Christian. It's not much, though"

"Eh, I don't even eat or drink anyway"

"You really should consider starting"

"Crow meat and blood is what I was raised on. Hey, where's Flora?"

"She went back up to your room, I think. I'll get her" Flora was leaning on a window in Christian's room, looking out it. "…Home…" she whispered, then heard Keith call from below her, "Flora, you in there?" he asked. "Oh! I'll be right down, Keith" she said, before leaving and meeting Keith and Christian at the tavern entrance, before they set out on their trek for port.

"Yeah, okay, it's getting dark and scary, and this is the only clearing I've seen for miles, so I vote we camp here" Christian suggested as they walked through the woods. "Flora, darkness is scary, so can you hook us up with some light?" Christian asked a worried-looking Flora. "I'll get some wood for a fire" Keith said. "K, ya might want to get some water too, you guys are running out"

"You mean _were_ running out" Keith said. "No, I don't drink water. I don't drink anything. Ergo, it's you guys water" Christian said. "Fine, whatever" Keith said as he walked off. "Christian…?" Flora asked. "Christian… I don't think we should camp out here"

"I ain't sleeping in a tree again, Flora"

"But… keidran have been here… I can smell their scent"

"Flora… you saw what I did to that feral keidran and Sythe… anyone attacks us, they won't live… I mean, I'll rough them up and warn them to leave us alone, not kill them, what do you mean?"

"…Yeah, I suppose, the scent was kinda old, anyway. I'm sure we'll be fine for one night… hm? Christian, where did this book come from?" Flora asked upon retrieving a thick blue-leatherback book from the blue backpack. It was a old story book from the library at the mansion, _The Crooked Man_. To be honest, he didn't even know he had it 'till they were packing back at the tavern. Christian forgot that he snatched it from the library and placed it in a pocket inside his hoody. He also found a photo of his entire family in the pocket he stashed… a early birthday present. He put it there the night before… he pushed that out of his mind and thought of the book. because it was his favorite book, in case they wouldn't come back… which they didn't. it was always his favorite story book, and Christian snatched from Flora's grasp as to not cause harm to it. "Oh, this old thing? Oh, just a old story book from the library in the mansion I read all the time… don't touch it, it's old, it'll probably disintegrate if you drop it" Christian said. "What does it say?" Flora asked. "It says on the… wait, slave for life, no education, clicking in… you can't read, can you?" Christian asked. "No… as a slave, I was never taught" Christian motioned for them to sit next to a tree, which they did. "Uh, man, ya know, this entire slave thing… it's wrong, I don't care if your life spans are short, you can't just… aw, forget it, what can I do? It's not like were ever gonna run into… oh, I dunno, some blonde pervert with a boat that owns keidran slaves… like that'll ever happen, anyway, look, Flora, I promise, when we get a boat and spend three months at sea while we head to that island, I'll find time to try to teach you to read, alright?" Flora beamed at him. "Really!? You would do that!?" Christian shrugged. "Eh, why not? It's not like we'll do anything else for three months" Flora scooted over and hugged him. "Thanks" she said. She let go and asked him, "So, what's the story book about?" Christian picked the book up. "Oh, it's about some guy and a crooked man, their was even some creepy nursery rhyme… you wouldn't be interested in it"

"Can you at least sing me the rhyme?" Flora asked. "Alright, fine… don't say I didn't warn you" he cleared his throat and sang in the creepiest voice possible… and since he could manipulate his genes, he modified his vocal chords so they could sound extra creepy, _"There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile. He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse. And they all lived together in a little crooked house" _Christian looked over at Flora, who was shaking. "I warned you it was scary!" Christian yelled in his normal voice. "That sounds more like a horror story than a regular story…" Flora commented. "Yeah, well, it is a true story so they say about a guy who had a run-in with it… I'll teach you to read so you can read it, K?" Christian asked. "K… do you mind if I go for a walk?" Flora asked, getting up. "After hearing a horror story? And with keidran running around? Really, is that- is that safe?" Christian asked. "Aw… don't worry about me. This is my territory" Christian shrugged. "A'ight, a'ight, fine… but if you don't come back…" he activated his viral sonar, his eyes glowing yellow, "I get to go hunting" he finished, eyes going back to normal. Flora walked away after that. Flora was now walking through the woods, muttering to herself, "I can smell… lots of scents here… one familiar… but… none of them are recent… maybe there's some more over… no, none here… wait, what am I doing? I should be happy I'm not finding anything… more keidran is the last thing we need" she sighed and slumped next to a tree. "I'm happy with Christian. Why would I want to put that at risk? Why do I want to go home? Is it just because I'm a keidran?" meanwhile, in the trees, Sythe was watching her. "Flora… you've been a slave to the humans for too long, my dear. Not used to these feelings, are you? Without the power from those templar buildings, your instincts are slowly becoming unsuppressed" Flora got up from the tree, muttering, "Get ahold of yourself, Flora. Thing's have been tough, but you can do it! As long as I have Christian, I'm fine. Better get out of here before I run into a-" she turned around, only to face Sythe. "…a keidran?" he asked. "Mew!" Flora yelled as she fell to the ground, than picked herself up, saying, "Ow… Sythe? Jeeze, don't sneak up on me like that. What are you doing out here, anyway?" she asked. "Isn't it obvious? I've been looking for you, Flora. I'm here to bring you back home. Have you forgotten that we are engaged? Come on, take my hand" he reached his hand out, but she crossed her arms and turned around. "I'm not marrying you" she said bluntly. "It's and arranged marriage! Neither of us have a choice" Sythe argued. "I don't care what all those old grey-furs arranged for us. Neither of us really have feelings for each other. I want to lead my own life. I might be foolish, but it's my own decision" Flora proclaimed. Sythe sighed, then said, "…Fine, go then… I'll tell them I… couldn't find you or something" Flora nodded, and walked off while Sythe thought to himself, _'I don't want to be your enemy, Flora. I still care about you… but… I can't risk my own life by coming back empty-handed. I will bring you back, as ordered, but I can't do it alone…'_

Flora walked back to camp, to see Christian reading his crooked book. "Christian, I'm back!" Flora called. Christian put his book away and walked up to her. "Sup? How was the walk?" he asked. "Eh, got side-tracked…" she sighed and fell into his arms. "I'm just exhausted. It seems like all we do is travel around. After all this is over, I just want to go back home and settle down"

"That's the dream, isn't it?" Christian asked. Flora looked around and asked Christian, "Is that my tent over there?"

"Nah, it's Keith's, and that one over there is mine because Keith won't let me do anything but sleep tonight, and your's is… uh…" he face-palmed himself. "…Nowhere to be seen…" he finished. "Oh… but… then where am I supposed to sleep?" Flora asked. "Well, I was thinking, were in this relationship now, and you don't have anywhere else to go, so… maybe we could, I dunno… sleep in the same tent…?"

"Y-you mean… you don't mind if I sleep in your tent with you…?" Flora asked. "Eh, why not? You already jacked my body a bunch of times and fell asleep with my unconscious body, anyway" Flora smiled. "Ah, okay" she ran over and hugged Christian. "It's about time, Christian"

"Eh, if it's another way to screw the templar, I'm a go. Plus I don't do well in cold, and you got warm fur"

"I know. I don't want to be involved in this war… I love you, Christian… hey Christian?"

"Yo?"

"Are we gunna… you know…?"

"Are we gunna… what?" Christian thought for a moment, than backed up upon realizing what she meant. "Oh, no, oh, no oh no oh no oh no, I can't I…" Flora grabbed his sleeve. "Why not?" she asked. _'Aw, screw it, she had to find out eventually…' _Christian thought, than pulled away, saying, "Oh, man, look, Flora, I'm… I'm… ah, screw it, I'm sixteen, Flora!" Christian yelled. Flora looked shocked. "You… wha… sixteen… but your as tall as me!"

"I was tall for my age! Look, I… we can't, I mean… yeah, in Amish terms, you're a man at sixteen, but, I mean…" she leaned over and kissed him on the lips, than broke away, saying, "Christian, you're a man in my opinion… plus, you being young just makes you cuter!" Christian sighed. "…you really want this, don't you?" he asked. "Well, yeah… in my culture, your considered old enough, I know your not a keidran, but that's good enough for me… plus I wanna see what your entire face looks like!" Flora said. "Alright, fine, I'll… we'll do it. But wait in the tent… I want to make it a dramatic reveal…"

"Okay!" Flora said before bolting to the tent. Christian sighed. "Fuck me… literally…" Christian said as tendrils swarmed around his body, leaving him wearing nothing but his sweatpants… leaving his head exposed… he walked towards the tent.

Flora was undressing when she heard Christian's voice outside the tent. "Okay, coming in… don't freak…" he said nervously. "Don't worry, I won't bite" Flora said as he entered. _'Well, this is it… I get to finally see his face…' _she said as she saw him, and gasped. Without his upper clothing, he was even skinnier than she thought… _'that really is unhealthy' _she thought, but some how he still had a six-pack on his stomach. His entire form was skinny, and very light-to-almost-white skin color, but his face caught the most of her attention. He had sharp features, pretty handsome, but his hair was the strangest. It was medium size, being flat and even around his entire scalp, with the right side being slightly uneven and messy, and the clump on his forehead coming down on his forehead and ending in a point. The color was the strangest. It was jet black and shiny, the edge and tips of his hair being a bright cyan. His eyes were of good spacing and size, also being bright cyan. What disturbed her was that their were dark circles under his eyes, making them look sunken. "Uh… tada?" Christian weakly asked. Flora just stared. "You have… very strange hair and a really good face…" she mumbled. "Heh, I always did have my father's face and hair… they never did figure out why the color was like this, though" he explained. He sat down next to her. "So… you like?" he asked. "Very much…" she answered seductively, before pouncing on him

Keith was walking back to camp with the supplies he was sent out to gather, muttering to himself, "Ugh, finally. Christian, it's your turn to go on watch. I'm exhausted. Huh, Christian? Now where'd that stupid human go? Hm?" he looked over to Christian's tent and heard voices inside. "Ow, hey, that's my tail, Christian!"

"Sorry, look, this is weird enough 'cause you look like my sister. This good?"

"I know, me nei- eep! Mm… that's nice…" Keith stared for a second, than walked off, muttering to himself, "… on second thought I think I'll go scouting for… a while…"

Later that night, Flora woke up from a bad dream in a nude Christian's arms. She didn't want to admit it, but his skin was icy-cold on hers. It was like sleeping next to a dead person, he was so cold. _'Oh… thank goodness. Just… a dream… merrr, Christian? Oh, yeah, I'm in Christian's bed. I still can't believe we actually did it… hm…? Are those claw marks… form me? Oh… they're bleeding… oh, I hope I didn't hurt him. I have to be more careful next time…' _she looked up at his face, and a tear rolled down his face and hit her in the shoulder. _'Huh, must be having a bad dream…' _Flora thought before drifting to sleep.

'_Aya… oh no… my god, no… what the hell did you do to her, you bastard!?' Christian yelled. 'I simply made her perfect… now her beauty is preserved, and we can be together… forever… come, Christian, it's your turn'_

'_You sick fuck, I'll kill you! You son of a bitch!'_

'_Now, that's no way to talk to your Father, Christian!'_

Christian woke from his dream and sat up immediately, remembering where he was and why he was undressed. "Good morning, Christian!" Flora called from the entrance of the tent. "Oh, hey… what's going on?"

"Well, I just wanted to open up the tent and go get some fresh air. Unfortunately, the ground was all wet. My feet got pretty muddy walking around. It must have rained while we were asleep. And looking at the clouds, I think it might again" Christian suddenly looked startled. "Rain!? As in water falling from the sky!? Yeah, screw that, I'm waiting in the tent!"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I think I can come up with something to do to pass the time… though, I don't want to add anymore scratches… mrr?" she turned to look at Christian to see the scratches gone. "Healing, remember?" he asked. "Oh, right…" she said, before pouncing him.

In another realm, a broken Ephemural appeared behind another mask studying a map. "Welcome back, Ephemural. It's been awhile since you've came back to this realm. You've fallen apart. Just like your little race. I warned you that germ would be too strong, but you did need a replacement, after killing my warrior. Unfortunately, that little keidran fell in love with him. When the time came, you couldn't split them up. Now, without Flora, the tiger and wolf clans have no alliance. Already, the wolves have chosen not to join the others, so sure that they can defend themselves. One by one, the clans will fall. until only my race shall rule this earth"

'_He may be speaking the truth…' _Ephemural thought, _'The outcome lies on the mortals now… my powers are weakened. I cannot risk attempting to enter the world again for some time. But perhaps there is something I can do… there is another race… one that I have not allowed for many, many years. As much as it sickens me to do this, I must assure some keidran blood survives…'_

"Yo, Flora, you awake?" Christian asked as she slept on top of him. "Mmm, no, just resting" she answered. "It's the middle of the day, I'm pretty sure it's not wet anymore"

"mmm, five more minutes" Christian sighed. "Alright, five more mins… hey, you think what were doing is weird?"

"Neh, there's nothing wrong with sleeping in once in awhile"

"Not that… but your right, there's nothing wrong with that…"

"The sex?"

"No, not… I mean, is this entire thing even gonna work?"

"Christian, I knew what I was getting into when I chose you"

"But where we gonna crash? Templar don't allow this, and killing them when they harass us will get old eventually. And what about… no, kids are pretty much impossible for me, even with another human…"

"Wha… your sterile?"

"Probably, I don't know… anyway, are you sure?"

"Christian, I know… we'll have to think about it eventually. But I also know I love you. And right now, the sound of your heartbeat is all the assurance I need… heartbeat… ah!" she got off his chest and started beating it. "Ow, ow, Flora whatareyoudoingwhatareyoudoingwhatareyoudoing!?"

"I can't hear a heartbeat!" Flora yelled as she attempted to restart his non-existent heartbeat. Christian slipped out from under her. "Uh… look, I, uh… just have a really quiet heart!" he lied. "Wha… really, Christian?" Flora asked, unconvinced. "Uh, look, you… probably just need rest" he ran over and tucked her in. "But… uh…" Christian started rubbing some pressure points on her back, and she immediately started getting sleepy. "You need sleep, alright?" Christian asked. "Yeah, sure…" Flora said, before falling unconscious. "There… man, how long can I keep the lies up? Eventually, I'll tell her… eventually…" tendrils shifted over his body before his cloths formed, and he walked out of the tent.

One minute earlier

"Damnit, he's been sitting there all day! The targets have been in their tent for hours! Why doesn't he go in his?" a wolf keidran asked from atop a tree overlooking the campsite. One of the tent's flaps opened, and out walked Christian. "Look. There's the blue one… the one they warned us about" the wolf keidran next to him said. "Hey, Keith, have you been awake all night?" Christian asked Keith from below. "Yeah… oh, by the way, caught you breakfast" he said, before tossing him a live crow. "Hey, thanks, Keith… go get some sleep, you need it"

"Alright" he started walking off, than turned around. "So, how was your first time?" he asked. "Oh, shut up… but I will say this… best. Thing. Ever" Christian said. Keith chuckled. "Heh, thought so…" he commented, before walking off. "What is he gonna do with that crow… oh, that's sick!" the first keidran said as Christian bit into and began eating the live crow. "My, they weren't kidding when they said he had strange eating habits… but we can't kill him here, brother. It might attract the others. We can't risk being outnumbered. But, there's always a weakness. We need to lure him away from the camp. I'm sure this little… persuasion will do the trick. I'm curious to see what his heart's desire is" the second keidran said, before casting a spell.

Christian was finishing his crow when he heard a familiar voice call out. "Christian? Christian…?" he looked over his shoulder and dropped his crow. He saw a small girl, about eleven years old, with a dark blue dress and long, black hair. "…Aya…?" Christian asked weakly. "It's been so long Christian… why don't you come over here?" Aya asked, before running off. "Hey, get back here!" Christian yelled as he ran after her. "Heheh, come on! Catch me!" Aya said as she ran. Christian sprinted up to her and hugged her. "What the- why would his heart's desire be a girl?" the second keidran asked. "That's not important. Just make sure you take him out, got it?" the second one asked. "Oh, don't you worry. I'm not taking any chances this time. I'm using the poison" the second one said, pulling out a poison arrow.

"Aya, I just… I just can't believe…" he swished behind her… and snapped her neck, causing her to disappear. "What!? How could he have known?" the second asked. Christian continued. "I just can't believe someone is _that _suicidal they would try that on me" Christian said. "the arrow-now!" the first commanded. "Yeah, got it… so long, 'ya crow eating weirdo" the second said as he drew the arrow back… and fired. The arrow hit Christian square in the forehead, and he stood there for a moment… before reaching up and taking the arrow out of his head, and licking the tip. "Huh… strong poison, too bad I'm immune to all poison and all disease…" Christian said. "What the… how is he not dead!?" the second asked. Christian's hood shadow flashed yellow, than glowed red as he looked up at the two assassin's hiding spot. "You two… are dead" Christian said. "Natani, he can't see us, don't worry, he's bluffing-" the first was saying… before Christian threw the arrow and impaled the branch a centimeter away from the first assassin's head. "No, I can see you guys…" Christian said, before leaping at the tree, grabbing the first assassin by the throat as they fell back to the campsite, Christian kneeling on the assassin as they slid across the ground, and then raised his hand, prepared to turn it into a claw. "Now to kill you… than consume you" Christian said, than heard the second assassin shout "_Igniras_!"

"What the-" Christian said as the second assassin cast a spell, hurtling a fireball at him, which hit him and sent him flying. He flipped in the air and landed on his feet, brushing his shoulder off. "Nice try, but it's gonna take a lot more than a fireball to-" the second one threw three knives at him, which impaled his chest, than he ran at him with a sword. He swung it down, but he held his arm out, forcing the blade to slice his wrist and get stuck in there. "Ha! Big mistake. You'll bleed out before the fight is even over now!" he gloated. "Don't count on it…" Christian said, before smacking him to the other side of the campsite. He heard a grinding noise, and opened his eyes to see the daggers and sword… and Christian having no injuries. "Like I said: it's gonna take a lot more than that to kill me" he smirked. The assassin rose to his feet. "My human is good. This is my name: I am Natani. I kill you today. I am younger of the Magi Brothers"

"Oh yeah, where is that other guy anyway?" that other guy rushed him with a sword. "And I am Zen! Prepare to die!" Zen said as he slashed Christian's throat with the sword. "_Igniras_!" Natani shouted as he summoned a fireball, blowing Christian to the ground. "Well, that wasn't that tough-" Zen said, before Christian's body chuckled darkly, and rose from the ground. He turned around to reveal his throat was alright, with no slit or blood. "What!? How is he not dead!?" Natani asked. "We've done a lot of things that should have killed him by now" Zen said, before Christian sprinted at him. Zen swung his sword, but Christian caught it with one hand, and broke it in half, before grabbing Zen's throat and jumping hundreds of feet in the air, taking Zen with him. When he reached the peak of his jump, he started spinning in the air, making Zen nauseous, before coming to the ground and slamming Zen into it. "ZEN!" cried Natani as Christian chuckled maniacally. "Well, I guess it's your turn now" he said before sprinting to him. He attempted to kill him with his sword, but Christian dodged all of his attacks, grabbing his throat and running over to a tree, slamming him into a tree. "Breaking news: the cries of dying assassins is a new slam hit!" Christian cackled maniacally as he repeatedly slammed Natani into the tree. Zen groaned and rose to his feet. "Damnit, how is he so strong? He should be dead by now… I… ah… what was that… Grah!" Zen shouted as Flora ran out of the brush, wearing a black t-shirt with a green one underneath and tan pants, and punched him. "You leave Christian **alone**!" she shouted. Christian threw Natani's body away and walked towards Flora. "Flora? What are you doing here?" he asked. Natani looked up weakly and saw Christian step into a puddle, than watched as his foot sizzled and he hissed as he stepped away from it. _'So that's his weakness…'_ Natani thought as he rose to his feet. Christian looked at him and tilted his head. "Jeez, you don't go down easily, do you?" he asked. He smirked, than summoned a spell, spraying Christian in a torrent of water. "AAAGGGHHH!" Christian shouted as he was pushed to a tree, and was being melted by the water. When the spell was done, nothing was recognizable of him. All that was left was a writhing pile of flesh. Flora clawed Zen down and looked in horror. "Christian!" she screamed. Zen got up and ran in front of her. "-gasp- wait, listen…listen! We-we don't have to fight! You see, we were hired to kill you, yes… but… but! We also support the merging of the clans. We don't believe the keidran can stand up to the humans without it. If you go through with the marriage as planned, there's nothing our leader can do to stop it. I believe that without you, our race may die out!" Zen pleaded. "I will not marry Sythe" Flora said. "You selfish child! Think of your people!" Natani walked up to them. "For goodness sake, we don't have all day. We'll deal with her later. For now… _sleep_!" Natani shouted, pulling a mana crystal out and casting a sleep spell on Flora. "Nya…" Flora weakly protested, then said, "N-no, I… can't… I wont…"

"Shouldn't she have fallen asleep by now?" Zen asked. "She's resisting the spell! She has a stronger will then I thought, you'll have to take care of her the old fashioned way. I've got to find and finish off that basitin" Zen looked shocked. "Kill her? But Natani…"

"Save it, Zen. I know how you feel about the alliance of the clans, but let's face it… it's not our job to question things. It's our job to kill things. And you know we really need this job. So just pick up what's left of your sword and finish her so we can get out of here" Zen sighed and picked up his broken sword. "…Alright. I'm sorry about this, girl, I really am. But as much as I hate it, Natani is right. We keidran are strong. We will survive against the humans. I will be sure to pray for your spirit's release from this world" Natani opened Keith's tent, but found it empty. "What the… where is he?" he asked. Zen walked up to Flora. "Flora… Flora! Listen to me. I'm not going to kill you. I'm just going to make it look like I've killed you"

"N-Nya?"

"Listen, I know that spell is making you weak. Just be sure to lie still. I became an assassin to kill the human's, but I will not murder my own kind"

"W-what about… Christian…"

"Look at him! He's melted, he's dead. He's just a human anyway. This has to work, Flora must survive. Prepare to die! Gah!" Zen shouted as Keith snuck up behind him and stabbed with his sword through his chest. "What… Zen? Zen!" Natani shouted. Christian watched the entire thing take place while he was regenerating, and no-one paid him any mind. _'He tried to help Flora… he shouldn't die… the other one will, though. Wait, what's…' _he activated viral sonar to see an approaching figure. _'Oh, you have got to be kidding me! Come on! Really, life!? Really!?' _Christian thought to himself. As Keith, Zen, and Natani were fighting, a black dragon with red, hateful eyes flew in. they all stopped fighting and stared at it. Natani started backing away. "I-I can't fight something like that! No amount of gold is worth this! I have to get out of here…" he bumped into Keith. "Going somewhere?" he asked. Flora looked at Keith in horror. _'He's going to kill him…' _she thought. "Going to finish me, eh, basitin? Then do it!"

'_There's no way I can win against that dragon, but… I've still got two mana crystals left. If I can just get away from here…' _Natani thought before Flora grabbed Keith's arm. "Keith, in case you haven't noticed, there's a dragon trying to kill us!" Flora yelled. "Didn't anyone teach you never to take your eyes off your opponent? _Igniras_!" Natani yelled as he threw a fireball at Keith, which he dodged. "Actually, no… they didn't have to… that's _instinct_!" Keith yelled as he slashed Natani across the chest, dropping him. "Keith, we have to get out of here! I'm sure that spell of his attracted the dragon's eye"

"Of course, but what about-"

"Forget about the wolf, just go!"

"Uh… I've never been injured before. That slice hit pretty deep. I guess this is my fate… I can't seem to find my last crystal, could have sworn I had another… not that it'd matter, I can't concentrate long enough to cast a spell… at least my last hours ended in battle… here it comes… I guess this is the end…" Natani monologued to himself, before Flora grabbed his arm. "MAN are you overdramatic"

"Hey, I'm trying to give my dying monologue"

"Oh please, ya big baby. The other guy had a sword go _through_ him, get up!"

"Hey-what are you doing?" Natani asked as Flora picked him up. Keith looked at Christian's body. Half of it was melted. "No-one can survive that" Keith said as he went towards Flora. In the clouds, a white dragon was watching overhead. "Hm… looks like I'm going to have to interfere… burning the barrier of trees between keidran and human territories can't be good" the white dragon said to herself as the black dragon burned the forest. "Oops, I think it noticed me" she said as the dragon shot flames at her, which she dodged. "Come on, let's go!" Flora said as she pushed Natani. "The forest-my home, it's burning!"

"There's nothing we can do. I see the river over there, come on!"

"Grr… why are you helping me? You do know I can still kill you at any- geh… where'd you go?" she asked, than looked up to see Flora hunched in a tree. "I saved you because I don't want anyone else like Christian to die. And your threat is an empty one. I saved your life. Your bound to me by our code, you know"

"Feh… how do you know I don't follow the code?"

"well, I doubt even an assassin like you would ever break the code… but considering your weaponless, magic-less, and wounded… I'm pretty sure I can beat you" Flora explained. A white dragon swooped down and began fighting the black dragon as Flora and Natani ran up to Keith, huddled up by a tree. "Keith, we're here!" Flora yelled. "Flora! You- why is he with you!?" Keith yelled. "What's he say?" Natani asked. "Nevermind that now Come on, we have to get out of here!" Flora yelled. While they were talking, Natani was rummaging his pockets for a crystal. _'Finally, -huff- a break. Now if only I could find that darn crystal, I could get out of this forest… this wound is still bleeding… I need to hurry before those two notice I'm still here… Ah! Here it is! I knew I had one left… now I can… transport myself… I feel sorry for… her… it is my fault the blue one is dead… she'll most likely be killed out here… not that I wasn't about to kill her anyway… but considering they fought off both me and Zen, it's a shame they have to die now… no, no! I can't be feeling sorry for them now! My magic might help, but then I'd be stuck here too! No, I'll just go home… they probably won't die in the fire anyway. They could just get eaten… yeah, that really made me feel less guilty. I must be insane… but she did save my life. The code says I must do the same… -sigh- fine…'_ Natani thought as he was getting ready to cast a spell. "Keith, what is he doing?" Flora asked as Natani glowed. "It's that keidran! I knew you should have left him!" Keith answered as he rushed him with a sword. "Just a few more second… hey what are you… hey stop, I was trying to help you guys!" Natani shouted as Keith tried to slash him. "Like I buy that!" Keith shouted. "Stop! Listen to me! I'm trying to teleport… wait, why is the ground shaking?" Natani asked as the ground shook. "Probably has something to do with that lousy spell of y- whoa! Ack!" Keith yelled as he fell on top of Natani. "Uh…" Natani weakly said as they blushed. "Uh, Keith? Are you on top of that guy? Wow, I had no idea you were… ya know… "that way"" Flora said. Keith got up off of Natani and yelled at her, "Hey, shut up! I'm not… erm… "That way""

"Hm, and I always thought he had a crush on me… but I guess that can't be possible…"

"What!? No, it can! I do!" Keith shouted as Flora laughed. "Er… wait… no! I don't… geh… I'm not gay!" Natani thought to himself, _'I can't understand a word they're saying, and something tells me I don't want to know… shouldn't we still be worried about the dragon overhead?' _Natani thought, before he heard a groan. "Ugh… that sucked…" they all turned their heads, and their jaws dropped. Christian was stumbling away from the tree he was dead at a minute ago, perfectly fine-looking.

"Christian…?"

"Man, your alive!"

"How are you not dead!? I melted you!" Christian composed himself and looked at the group. "Oh, hey guys…" he looked at Natani. "I'll deal with you later…" he looked up at the dragon. "As for you, your dead!" Christian yelled. The dragon stopped torching everything… than seemed to emit a deep chuckle. "Christian, you were a pile of melted flesh a second ago! I don't even know how that healing spell of yours healed that, but your in no condition to kill a damn _dragon_!" Keith yelled. _'Yes… demonstrate your power to them… make them quake in fear…' _the voice inside of Christian begged. _'No, I'm doing this by hand… they can't know yet…' _Christian thought to it, before leaping up at the dragon, his hood shadow going back black. "Christian , NO… huh?" Flora shouted as Christian took the dragon's head… and dragged it to the ground, smacking it into it. He than lifted the head, and punched it, the force dragging the dragon's body across the clearing. "Christian, this is madness! You don't even have a weapon!" Keith shouted. Christian shook his head, then walked over to a tree, grabbing in and uprooting it, holding the tree by the stump. The dragon looked at him, than breathed fire. Christian blocked the flames with the tree, and when the dragon was done, he looked at the now burning tree. "Thanks a lot, ya dummy! Now I got a giant _flaming_ sword!" Christian shouted, before jumping in the air, landing next to the dragon, and began to beat and smack it all over the clearing in it. Keith, Flora, and Natani just watched in disbelief as Christian beat the dragon up with a flaming tree. "I had no idea he was this strong… what am I sleeping with?" Flora asked. _'Man, he's good… maybe he could get me back in…' _Keith thought, not being able to form words. _'I was wrong… no amount of gold is worth trying to kill _him_!' _Natani thought. The tree Christian was using broke in half, and he threw it away. The dragon attempted to whip him with it's tail, but he jumped out of the way. The dragon breathed fire, but Christian jumped again, landing next to it's head. He grasped it, and flipped around it's head, spinning it to a hundred and eighty degrees, before he span the head, making it face the other side of him and snapping it's neck and killing it. He nodded at his handiwork, than turned to his companions, throwing his hands up. "What was all that talk about me being dead!? I wasn't dead! Jeez, talk about having a little bit more fate in me…" Flora ran up to him, and BONK!, Than hugged him. "Oh, Christian, I thought you were dead! You melted, than you beat that dragon, and… I thought you were dead!" Flora wailed. Christian patted her head. "Uh… there, there… wait, what's that beating?" Christian asked as the white dragon from before flew towards them. "I think it's… landing…" Flora said. "Round two it is, than!" Christian said as the white dragon landed. Christian heard a foreign voice in his head, a woman's… the new voice agitating the one already in his. _"Okay, kinda scared being near you, after you easily dispatched that other one…"_ she said to him. _'Must be using some sort of telepathy…' _Christian thought. The voice in his head screamed. _'Out! Out of our head, vile demon! Or I'll snap your bones and drink the marrow within!' _it said. _'Where have I heard that one before…?' _Christian thought to it. _"Oh, my…" _the dragon thought to him. _"I had no idea there were two people living in here…" _Christian shrugged. _'Eh, more like a annoying roommate… pretty sure he was in the vial, too… along with that virus…' _he thought back. _"Well, I'm just going to assume that "Virus" is what helped you so easily dispatch that other dragon…"_

'_Speaking of which, your not here for revenge 'cause he was your boyfriend or something, right?' _Christian asked. _"Oh, no, no… I'm not here to hurt you!" _she said, licking his cheek. "OW!" Christian shouted as his cheek sizzled. _"Bleh! you taste like death! Smell like death too!"_ the dragon thought to him. "Ugh, need more mass… guys, talk with puff the magic dragon, I'm gonna go find a crow to eat" Christian said. "Is this really the time!?" Keith yelled. "Uh… yeah!" Christian said, before leaping into the trees. The dragon leaned towards Flora and thought to her, _"Oh, so you're the keidran I tasted over all that death… hello, I am known as Lady Nora"_

"Neh! Nyaaa…" Flora weakly said, before passing out. Nora looked at Keith and Natani, who also passed out. Christian returned with a black feather sticking out of his mouth. "…They passed out of fright, didn't they?" Christian asked Nora. _"Yeah… if you want, I know a clearing… I can take you all there, it's pretty near a portcity…"_

"Portcity?" Christian asked. "So, let me get this straight… you want to take my unconscious friends and me to an unknown location when a member of your own kind just tried to kill us… and I'm supposed to trust you?" Christian asked. _"Yes…"_ Nora thought to him. "Alright!" Christian said, tossing his unconscious friends and Natani on Nora's back. _"You trust me just like that?" _Nora asked. "Meh, beats walking and carrying their asses around… by the way, what's your name?" Christian asked. _"Lady Nora" _Nora answered him. Christian climbed onto her long neck. "Well, than, Nora… onto Merlin's castle!" Christian shouted, pumping his fist into the air. _"What?" _Nora asked. "Uh… just fly to this place of yours…" Christian asked as they flew off. Christian looked back at Zen's body, and activated viral sonar. _'Meh, he's still breathing… someone will find him, I'm being awful generous bringing his damn brother along…' _he looked at Natani and made a confused look. _'Wait, what the… circulation doesn't work like that for guys… why does he have breasts and a… oh, what the hell! This is a chick, not a dude! Ah, well, I'll ask when he… she… whatever it is, wakes up'_ Christian thought as they flew, turning his viral sonar off.

When they landed at a field next to a tree and some bushes, the sun was setting. Christian took Keith's and Natani's body's behind the bushes and put them in a… interesting position. He picked Flora up gently and sat down next to a tree, holding her in his arms. "So, what is this place?" Christian asked Nora. _"_Haven fields_, it's just outside the forest. Town is just beyond that hill" _Nora answered. "Heh, maybe we can finally get a peaceful retreat… and I jinxed it, damnit!" Christian yelled. _"Your very gentle with that keidran… is she your mate?" _Nora thought-asked him. "No, were just… really close…" Christian answered. _"It's rare these days to see a human and keidran mate…" _Nora mused. "Well, it's not like I have any other option other than a cross-species relationship, considering there isn't anyone else like me…"

"_I should have known a human could have killed a dragon like that. What exactly are you?" _Nora asked. "A virus" Christian answered. _"Ah… your very forth-coming with this information" _Nora commented. "Eh, why not? Your pretty much the first magical-talking dragon I've ever seen that's helped me… I kinda wanna keep this info on the down low, you get me?" Christian asked. _"Of course. I won't tell a soul. I find it humorous how devoted that thing is to you, however. One look into her mind and it's obvious her attraction to you. No, what concerns me is the relationship itself. What do you plan to do when this little adventure is over? Having a keidran for a wife wouldn't look good, you know?"_

"I don't care what- wait, marriage? Ugh, I don't know… start a crow farm? I mean, I can't just kill everyone that tries to separate us… so I'm open to suggestions"

"_A… whatever you are and a beast. Well, there is one place you can go… The Orchard Valley"_

"The wha?"

"_It's hidden far off, beyond the basitin islands, on the other side of the continent. It's a place beyond even the influence of the templar. The village itself is called Lyn' Knoll. Ugly word, but it's a combination of two languages. I do not think the templar are even aware of it's existence. But if they are, they don't seem to be taking actions against it. In the village, members of all three races co-exist… relatively in peace. Not so many basitins, of coarse. They have that stubborn pride. I only know of the village because I happen to cross it on one of my flights. They've paid me quite well to keep their secret to myself, and make sure no-one but the right people find it. But if you are looking for a place to get away from it all, that would be the place to go. Simply travel beyond the shores of the basitin islands, once your done there, and you'll reach the orchard valley. Christian, I wish I could stay and help you, but I'm needed elsewhere. Remember what I've told you. There is still much you need to know. For now, I take my leave. I've released your… bestial companions from their sleep. Goodbye, Christian!" _Nora said as she flew off. "Bye, nice magical dragon lady!" Christian waved as she flew off. Flora stirred in her sleep. "Neh… Ah! Christian! The dragon, where…? Christian!?" Christian petted her head. "One centimeter away from you, Flora. Nora's gone, it's good" Flora twisted around. "Christian…" she freed her arms and wrapped them around his neck, knocking them to the ground, wailing "Christian, your okay!" Flora let go of Christian and sat up, looking sheepish. "Heh, it's been awhile since I've done that…" she said. "Man, I just got this ribcage… C'mon, let's get the others and go into town. It's over that hill, and it's getting dark"

"Sounds good! I'd rather not stay overnight in a human city again" she said, before Keith screaming "AHHHH!" broke the silence. "What was that?" Flora asked. Christian grinned. "Oh, I think Keith woke up to find my little surprise…"

Meanwhile, behind a bush, Keith was awake with a sleeping Natani nuzzling against his leg. "Hey, get off me! Jeez, wake up! don't rub against me like that!" Natani stirred in her sleep, and waked up. "zzz… s'nah… woof?" she said when she looked up at Keith. Christian popped his head from a bush… and fell on the ground, rolling around and laughing. "Ah haha hohah…! oh man, oh man, my sides… oh my god this is rich… oh, my god I need to frame this…" Keith ran over and kicked him in the head. "Owwww… the heck's wrong with you?" Christian asked as he rose from the ground. Flora came running out of the bushes. "What's going on?" she asked. "What's going on is that Keith is beating me senseless" Christian said. "Christian, I think we need to have a talk" Flora said. "Bu-what did I do?" she motioned for him to come to the other side of the bushes, and he did. "Flora-"

"Don't "Flora" me. You know what you did"

"But it was funny…"

"You can't make fun of something like that"

"You're a real buzz kill, ya know that?" Keith came out of the bushes. "So the assassin and his gay companion have a little conserve?" Christian joked. "Your really making up to that promise, aren't you?" Keith asked. Christian sighed. "Alright, fine, fine… I'm sorry I humiliated you, now, what did sh… he say?"

"He said that he was sent by the wolf king to kill us. But… the contract is off"

"And he knows that…?"

"Zen and I are linked mentally. I see and feel what he does. Ever since he was stabbed, I have been using my energy to keep him alive. He's now in the care of our healers. Without his aid, I'm not much of a fighter, my viciousness comes his side of the link… Zen is safe for now… but since we've failed, the king is going to banish us both. Or at least me… Zen is safe until he is healed…"

"So… you don't have anywhere to go… you could come with us…"

"Huh? With you guys? No… no, I'm going back. I'll face my banishment"

"But… we can… um…"

"Do you have a death wish?"

"W-wah?"

"Listen, I just told you I was sent to kill you guys. I'm a killer, obviously. And so is your crazy tree-ripping regenerating dragon-killing pal. Sure, your protected from me, because you saved my life, the code, bah… and I don't think I can kill that blue guy… but there's nothing stopping me from killing that… other guy in his sleep. What makes you think you can just trust me all of a sudden? You're a fool if you think that"

"Dude, what the heck are they saying?"

"Oh, Flora's trying to get me killed in my sleep"

"Ah. Have fun with that" Natani started walking off. "Good-bye, Flora. Tell Christian to watch his back from now on"

"Good luck, Natani" Flora called back. "Feh, more like good riddance" Keith retorted. "Who says "Feh" anymore?" Christian asked.

"_Now why did you do that, Natani? You were supposed to go with them. They were about to trust you" _Zen said, talking to Natani through their link. "Oh, shut it, Zen. I don't care what the King's offered. I'm not wasting my time on some crazy adventure" she came upon humans inspecting the forest. "Aw crap, what are these humans doing way out here? They must be scouting out the fires. I'm injured and have no weapons. There's sure to be more humans in the forest… well, I guess I'll go around" Natani said to herself, before a human spotted her. "Hey, there's a keidran! I bet it has something to do with this! Skin it alive!" the human shouted.

"It's a perfectly valid retort!" Keith yelled. "NO! no, it's not! Name one other person that says feh! One!"

"Are you two really arguing about this?" Flora asked, before Natani ran back, yelling, "I've changed my mind! I'll waste my time on your crazy adventure!" suddenly, two humans obviously chasing Natani ran up. Christian stepped in between them. "Yo, stop! These keidran are my… er… Slerves! Or, wait, uh… slaves! Yeah, that's it" the blonde human spoke, "Oh, sorry, we didn't realize" the brown haired human spoke, "You should really have them collared and stay with them at all times. We're close to the border, you know? Hey, wait a minute! I've seen this guy before! He's the one on the wanted posters set up two days ago! That crazy guy who killed the templar and blew the tower up!" he whipped out two wanted posters for them to see. The first was Christian's. it said" WANTED. 250,000 gold. Rogue human. Name unknown. Facial features unknown. Exclusive blue clothing. Known to eat nothing but crows. Always armed- extremely dangerous. Their was a artists rendering of him and his blue hoody. "The heck? Twenty five hundred grand!? I should be million! Minimum!" the second was Flora's. it said: WANTED. 25,000 gold. Runaway slave known as Flora. Tiger-patterned. Brown hair, Flat-chested. "Hey! Flat-chested!?" Flora yelled. "Oh, for goodness sake, not another fight already!" Keith yelled. "Maybe we should try getting away? Might be a good idea this time" Flora suggested. The brown-haired human held a spear out. "'Get away?' Not a chance! That gold is mine, you 'flat-chested- keidran! Gra-ah!?" the human shouted as Flora jumped into the air. "You'll pay for that, human!" Flora shouted, before karate-kicking him in the face. Christian grabbed the blonde one by the throat. "And this is for the weak bounty!" he shouted, before throwing him… so far he flew beyond their vision. "You know he didn't even set the bounty, right? Was that really necessary?" Keith asked. "Well, I'm not gonna get a million bounty by _not _being homicidal sometimes…" Christian said as they ran off. "Well, I feel better. Now let's get out of here!" Flora said as they ran. "You didn't tell me you could karate-kick things! You are so much hotter now…" Christian said. They ran for awhile before Christian said to Natani, "Hey, uh, Natani… hang back for a second?" Christian asked her. "Okay…" she said as they went behind a bush. "So, look, I gotta ask…. Why are you pretending to be a guy when you a girl?" Christian asked. Natani grew mad and held him by the throat. "How you know!?" she angrily asked. "Uh… just know. So, why?" he asked. "I don't know what you talk about"

"Really? I'll ask this: was magic involved?"

"Magic is the reason"

"'Nuff said. I won't ask any more questions, or tell the others" she let him go. "Really? Why?" Christian turned as he was walking away, and answered, "Your life isn't the first to be screwed up by magic…" Christian said. Natani shrugged as they rejoined the group. It was nightfall when they got to a hill over-looking the town… with a big templar tower in the middle. "All a'ight, were here! Hopefully this one won't disappear…" Flora tugged on his sleeve. "Let's spend as little time as possible, Christian. Bas things always seem to happen to happen to us when we're in these human cities" Keith piped up, "That's the least of our problems! How do you guys expect to get to a ship? You're both wanted by the humans. And a traveling group of 'animals' and a crow-eating blue clothed guy isn't exactly what I would call 'inconspicuous.' unless there's some huge distraction, I don't see how we're getting in… is that a firework…?" he asked as a blue firework exploded overhead. "Well, one distraction, Keith! You want fries with that?"

"What?"

"…Just… just come on…" they walked into town where a familiar templar was addressing everyone, and Natani was explaining 'the festival of the beasts' to Flora. "Wow, everything is so colorful!" Flora said as they moved through the crowds. "'Colorful!?' there isn't barely any blue!" Christian remarked. "I still don't like this… that guy said there were wanted posters up… but I haven't seen a single one…" Keith said. Natani held her paws up to her nose. "Hey, watch out! I think someone's burning dried subtle flowers. Don't breath too deeply" Flora blushed. "You know… you're pretty…"

"Oh, perfect, too late. Get ahold of yourself, we don't have time for this. and I'm not pretty!" Keith blushed. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself…" Keith said. "Oh no, not you too!" Natani said, blushing. "Hey guys, there… guys? Oh, no…" Christian said as Flora ran up to him, naked and covered in ribbons. "Christian! Look, look! Ribbons!" A gray passerby looked at her pass by. "What a beautiful keidran!" he remarked. "Pure breed, for sure!" a blonde guy with blue eyes agreed. "What the… Flora, where'd your cloths go!?" Christian asked. "Hehe, I'm having fun!" Natani tugged on his sleeve. "Christian! We must leave now! We can't think strait! It's the scents! I… I'm becoming increasingly attracted to random people!" Natani yelled. "You know what!? Screw different languages! Hold on a minute! That keidran probably knows how to speak your dang language!" he jabbed a passing blonde keidran for blood… who was too distracted to notice being jabbed for blood. "Okay, finally… eesh, she has problems… Natani, what's going on!?" Christian yelled, now knowing the keidran language. "What the… how do you suddenly know keidran!?" Natani asked. "Explanations later, explanations now! Er… you know what I mean!"

"It's the subtleflowers they're burning! They're arousing us!"

"Oh, for the love of… Flora, remember when Keith said we need to be 'inconspicuous?' Well, you being naked ain't inconspicuous!"

"Oh, relax, Christian. Nearly all the keidran here are either naked or getting there by now" she grabbed Natani's cloths. "In fact, I think you're making us look suspicious! Let's see what you have under those robes, !" Natani blushed. "Hey, stop! I can barely control myself as it is!"

"Exactly!" Flora yelled as she pounced Natani to the ground. "Flora, she's not even a… dude… oh man, what am I gonna do!?" Christian yelled before the blonde guy that complimented Flora came over. "Excuse me… that's quite an exotic keidran you've got there. Might I inquire where you obtained such a creature?" he asked. Christian looked at him. "Dude… so. Not. Helping. Me"

"Er, sorry…would you and your keidran consider joining me for a drink? I'd love to learn how you acquired such a variety of keidran"

"Yeah, dude, I would love to, but dock, being inconspicuous, kinda got my hands full…" Christian said, watching Flora trying to tear the robes off Natani. "Stop! Hey, don't tear the robes!" Natani cried. "Dang it, Flora… ugh, I'm gonna kill whoever's idea it was to burn those damn flowers…" Christian moaned. "Looks to me like you won't be getting there very fast. Trust me, a few minutes out of the scented air will do them some real good. And maybe I can help you get to the docks" Blondie suggested. "Fine! Fine! Give me a minute! Keith, help me! Keith…?" Christian looked over to see a stunned Keith. "Flora… tail up…" he said. "I… hate… subtleflowers…" Christian said as he pried Flora off of Natani. "Flora, we need to s'go"

"Oh, Christian! Sorry, I don't know what came over me…" she said, before nuzzling Christian's face. "What am I gonna do with her?" Christian asked himself. Natani was compiling herself. "Well, that was certainly interesting. Nothing like being molested by a horny tiger. That was really close, too. I gotta control myself. If she had gotten my robes off in front of everyone…" Keith walked up to her. "Hey, you, uh… need a hand, or… something?" he offered. "No… I'm fine. I don't need your help!… and I don't need more temptation… come on, let's go!" they followed Blondie to his house, to which he let them in. "Here we are! Those keidran should feel better almost instantly"

"You feel instantly better, Flora?" Christian asked. "A little better, I guess… I'm sorry I couldn't control myself… it was like my head was in a fog…" Blondie clapped his hands. "Oh, you speak very well! Great! I sure wish I had a keidran like you in my… eh… collection… I'd love to learn more about you and your history…" Flora blushed. "Well… I'm nothing special, really…"

"True, you'd be better if you were a bit more shapely and well-endowed… now that would be the perfect keidran…!"

"Nya!" Flora shouted as she hit the ground. "So, we're inside. We appreciate the help, but we're in a hurry. We need to get to my island" Keith said. Blondie took his glasses off and began to wipe them. "Ah, yes, the basidian islands. don't see too many of your type here these days. Allow me to formally introduce myself. If you haven't guessed, I am a slave trader. My name is Eric. I'm what's you call… a collector. Obviously, my occupation gives me many opportunities to travel to far off places. I don't believe our encounter was by chance. I think that I can help you. You see, you'll have a very hard time trying to find any kind of boat during this festival. But perhaps if your willing to stick around 'till tomorrow, I think I could arrange one of my own ships" Eric explained. Flora got off of the ground. "Aw man, we have to spend the night here? I have a bad felling about this… something bad always happens to us when we're in a human city…"

"No, something bad always happens when we sleep in a tavern! I'm good with staying here… but still…" Christian said, walking up to Eric, his hood shadow glowing red. "Proud of our little occupation here, are we?" Christian asked in a cold voice. Keith pulled him away. "Okay, Christian, calm down…" Keith said. Christian shook and rubbed his head as his hood shadow turned black. _'Kill him…' _his inner voice said. _'What's wrong with you?' _Christian asked it. _**'KILL HIM!' **_it yelled at him. Christian was groaning when Keith patted his back. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Ugh, inner demons, self conflict, stuff like that… you trust this guy?" Christian asked Keith. "Not really. Someone is organizing these events, I'm sure. Somehow, I think someone knows what we're after. What are the chances that we'd meet a guy who happens to have a ship?"

"Slim to none…" Christian commented. "You have the most wonderful fur pattern, my dear!" Eric said to Flora. "Er, thank you… I think…"

"I mean it! Your fur is absolutely lovely. It's neat and clean, perfectly even…" he grabbed her tail and lifted it up. "Ah, yes, the white fur goes all the way around"

"Mer…!" Flora yelped, before pouncing and shredding Eric. "Shouldn't you be red by now?" Keith asked Christian. "Uh… I think Flora is doing a good enough job… okay, even I wouldn't have done that… okay, yeah, I would have… ow! Fingers don't bend that way… uh, Keith, you might want to go get some butter… I'll get her off of him…" Christian said as he grabbed Flora, her necklace glowing red. "Did you see what he did?" Flora asked him. "Yeah, I know, I'll paralyze him in an uncomfortable position later, just calm down!" Eric was getting off the floor, his cloths shredded. "P-please forgive my rudeness. I truly did not mean to offend you. I'm just used to inspecting my slaves in that way… you see, most of the slaves I deal with are traditionally much more subordinate then you…" Christian let go of Flora as pain spiked through his head. _**'KILL HIM NOW! I SPENT TOO LONG IN THAT VIAL! I WON'T SEE FLORA SHARE THE SAME FATE!' **_his inner voice screamed at him. _'Vial… you were in there with the virus… a glass tomb for you…' _Christian deduced. _'Yes… I'm… sorry. I will… show more restraint… after all, we need him…' _his inner voice said, calming down. _'So, since you're a separate conscious living in me… what are you?' _Christian asked it. _'A side-effect of the virus your Father created… I can't control you, but my rage links with you when you grow protective of Flora…'_

'_When I glow red…'_

'_Yes, that is my… personality fueling your anger. It is neither you or me when that happens… just an angry demon…'_

'_So… why do you voice yourself now?'_

'_You've heard me before… I just never had a motive 'till now… I hate Eric'_

'_We need him'_

'_I know…'_

'_So, a voice in my head… heh, least I won't be so lonely… so, you have a name?'_

'_Your father often called me 'Jack', named after 'Jack the Ripper' because of my violent tendencies'_

'_Well… nice to meet you, Jack. We can talk later, but let's deal with this right now…'_

'_Likewise…' _Jack agreed. Right now, Flora was yelling at Eric. "I'm not a slave! I was one once, a long time ago, but I'll die before I'm a slave ever again!" Eric looked confused. "Oh… I'm sorry… but… I don't understand… she isn't a slave, then?" Eric asked. Christian walked up to him. "No. We're all friends… not slaves… most of us are friends"

"Seriously? I must admit I'm a little disappointed. I was really hoping to buy her from you"

"Don't… ever suggest that. Look, we need a boat… can you provide?"

"Well… now that I think about it… boat rides can be very boring… there is something Flora can do for me… if she's willing, of coarse…"

"And that is…?" Christian asked. "Come" Eric said. He lead them to a room in the house, and opened it to reveal many paintings of naked keidran. "Voila! These are my paintings! As I told you, boat rides can be long and quite boring. If you would model for me, I would love to paint your image"

"Wow, these are really good… you want me… to model?" Flora asked. "Sure, you have quite an exotic look to you"

"Oh… thanks… I guess…" Eric nudged her with his elbow. "…And if you want, we can, ya know, have some fun afterwords… a little… private entertainment…" Christian's hood shadow glowed red, and he sprinted up to Eric, grabbed his throat, and pressed him up against a wall, cracking it. "You… will… apologize… to her…" Christian said in a demonic voice. "Christian, put him down!" Keith yelled. Christian's hood shadow turned black, and he released his grip, letting Eric go. "O-ow… I forgot, sorry. I'm not sure I deserved that, though. Eh, well… my offer still stands. I'll take you aboard my boat in the morning if you want. If you don't mind, I need to find my healing crystals, excuse me…" Eric ran out of the room. "I don't like him. What about you, Flora?" Christian asked her. "Eh, as much as I hate to admit it, we need him. It's the perfect opportunity… but I'm not going to enjoy posing in front of him. You'd better make sure he doesn't try anything" Christian smirked. "Oh, don't you worry… I'll be closer than you think… anyway, we should enjoy tonight. You can get a bath, we can sleep on something other than dirt, and in the morning, go on a grand line adventure! In the middle of the ocean… surrounded by water…-whimper-" Christian crossed his arms and began shaking. Flora put an arm around him. "Aw, don't worry, Christian, I'll make sure your high and dry! And that does sound kinda nice… murr…" Flora began dragging Christian away. "Hey, Keith, exactly what's the deal with Christian and water?" Natani asked Keith. "I don't know what the deal is with anything with him…" Keith answered.

Christian was leaning on a balcony overlooking the streets. The festival was dying down, and he was looking at the photo of his old family. Flora came walking in with a towel around her neck. "Hey Christian… come on, they finally got the water warmed up. Hey, what are you doing out here? What's that?" she asked. "Do I really have to go? I can't even go in the bath…" he asked. "Of course! Wouldn't want anything bad to happen, now… seriously, what's that?" she asked again. Christian sighed. "Alright, fine, I'll come… and it's a photo of my old family…" he gave it to her, and she looked at it. It was afternoon, summer from the looks of the green trees, and in the middle of the woods, with a family standing in front of a large mansion. On the far left was a happy-looking Christian with his hood down, with no dark circles around his eyes, and a small girl on his back. Flora assumed it was Aya. In the middle was a man that looked much like Christian, but with a sand-colored hair, and glasses and lab coat, a arm draped around a large-breasted woman who resembled the girl, with a matching blue dress. In the far right, there was a woman with light brown curls, and green eyes in a maid's outfit. _'They look so happy… he looked so happy back then…' _Flora looked at Christian. His hood was down, and he had those dark circles under his eyes… she gave him the photo back, which he stuffed in a pocket in his hoody. "Who's the woman on the right?" Flora asked. "Oh, just a maid we rescued from the streets… we kinda adopted her, really…" Christian sighed, and Flora wrapped her arms around his neck. "…Murr… don't be so moody, Christian" she purred. "Eh, kinda hard when your family is in another dimension… but alright, I won't anymore… thanks…" Flora ruffled his hair. "That's the spirit! Now, come on!" she said. "Alright, alright, wait for me!" he said, putting his hood up and chasing after her. When they reached the hallway to the bathroom, they were greeted by a naked female leopard keidran, white with dark brown on the edges, with blue eyes. "Why, hello Mr. Christian. I am a servant of my master, Eric. I have finished preparing your bath. Shall I stay and help you with your bath? You'll find that I can provide you with a variety of… services" she offered. "Hey, you hussy! Back off, he's mine! Right, Christian?" Flora asked. "Really, Flora? Hussy? Kinda rude of you… and no thanks on those… services, I'm not going in the baths" Christian answered the servant. "Oh… what? Than why are you going?" she asked him. "Just to watch her" Christian answered. "Well, okay… right this way…" she said, leading them to the baths. Flora took her towel off and slipped in the water. "Nyaa~! Wow, this is nice… Come on, Christian! Get in here!" Flora asked him. "But it hurts…" Christian complained. "Can't you just do that one thing you did that one night at the lake?" Flora asked. _'This will use all my biomass… but for her, it's worth it. I probably got thirty minutes before I have to get out…' _Christian thought before he sighed. Oh, alright, fine… but that takes a lot out of me, I'll need to get out after thirty minutes…" he said, picking up her towel. "Wha-chaw!" Christian joked, throwing the towel in her face as tendrils swarmed his body, bolstering his skin with biomass so he wouldn't melt or feel any burning as long as his supply lasted, and altered his cloths so they could be taken off. "Hey, what was that for?" Flora asked as Christian took his cloths off. "I though couples joked around?" Christian asked, stopping at the sweatpants. "Heh, yeah… take that off, I've already seen it all" Flora said. "Okay, fine…" Christian said, stripping naked and slipping in the bath, Flora leaning against the end and holding Christian as he half-stood half-floated in the water. "This is weird… I always loved swimming as a kid…"

"You still are a kid" Flora joked. "Six_teen_. And I look good for sixteen, you said that yourself! I don't even have any skin blemishes… probably because I never had any outside contact with anyone else… anyway, ever since I couldn't touch water, I've hated it, so these few moments are nice…" Christian said. "Just relax, Christian. I'll wash your back for you" Flora said as she massaged and washed his back. "Man, I wish everyday was like this… just being alone with you… wait a minute…" he heard a footstep with his heightened hearing, and activated viral sonar to see the servant from before entering. He grabbed a towel and put it over his head before she walked in. "Ah, hello again, Mr. Christian! If she's got your back, I'll wash your front for you!" she offered. Flora dunked Christian underwater and yelled at the servant. "You! How did you get in here!? I thought I told you we don't need you!"

"No, you said "Back off, he's mine""

"Well we don't need you to help us!"

"But I've been ordered to help, it's my job…"

"Who told you, that pervert? Figures!"

"Hey, master Eric is not a pervert, he-"

"He is too! Why else would he send you in here to interrupt us…?"

"I don't know, I just do as I'm told…"

"Well, trust me, we're fine, we don't need your "Services""

"Hey, master says I do well with my serv-"

"I don't want to know about that stu-" Christian didn't know how long they were arguing, but having his entire body underwater burned through his biomass faster than he anticipated… and he started to burn… "AGH!" Christian screamed as he raised his upper body out of the water, towel still on his head, and picked his sweatpants up, throwing them in the air and jumping out of the bath, putting them on in midair so the servant wouldn't see him naked, than threw his shirt and hoody on, putting the hood up so she couldn't see his face and threw the wet towel across the room, than quickly put the rest of his cloths on and walked out. "Christian…" Flora tried to say. "Flora, forget it! My time is up!" Christian said, slamming the door behind him. "This is your fault…" Flora said to the servant.

Keith was relaxing in the second bath when he heard Christian grumbling to himself. _"Puta's cinco muertos…" _Keith called to him, "Christian, I heard yelling, what's going on?" Christian threw his hands up. "I'm turning freaking Spanish, that's what!"

"You okay?"

"Fantastic, Keith! Hey, Natani…" Christian said as he stormed by. A couple minutes later, he heard Keith shout, "You're a woman!?" he heard Natani shout, "What? No I'm not!"

"Then why do you have-?"

"They're both lies! I'm a male!… shut up!"

"No, she's not!" Christian yelled from the hallway.

Flora was sulking through the hallway, looking for Christian. "I can't believe Christian walked out of the bath like that. He seems really stressed out lately. I guess I should talk to him tonight about it. Ah, there's the second bath, I wonder if Keith's still in there? Heh, maybe I can bust in on him… hey Keith, are you in he-… buh…!?" Flora shouted as she saw a naked Natani-not revealing her lady credentials- leaning on top of a naked Keith. "This isn't what it looks like?" Natani asked. "Yeah, it is!" Christian yelled from the other side of the building. "Do you mind, Flora? We're just two normal guys… uh… doing what guys do in a bath, you know?" Natani asked. "Oookay… well, I gotta go… do the thing… so, see ya later…" Flora said before closing the door and running after Christian. She ran out of the building and found Christian walking the streets, and ran up to him. "Christian, what are you doing?" Flora asked. "I don't know, blowing off steam… look, I'm sorry I blew you off like that, I was mad at the servant for wasting our time…" she put a finger to his lips. "Shh… Christian, it's alright… we still have the bed…" Flora said. "Yeah, I guess…" they leaned in for a kiss, but Christian felt something go through his chest. Flora broke away from him and screamed. He looked down, and saw a spear glowing blue through his chest… and fell down on the ground. _'Why can't I move… that spear is glowing… man, fuck magic…' _Christian thought as fourteen figures came into view… all wearing templar uniforms. The leader… some yahoo in black armor and red robes with a giant crescent blade, along with a black dragon tattoo under his right eye… went up to Flora and knocked her out, striking her in the head, and she crumpled to the ground. "Ha! Nice going, Roderick!" one of the templar said to him. "Heh, yeah, Cheyenne, nice soul-binding spell… you sure he can't move?" a templar girl stepped in front. "Yep, until it's removed, his soul is frozen and he's stuck… won't be able to even breath… he'll probably suffocate, if he hasn't by now"

"Good" Roderick said, than went up to Christian, stomping his head once. "That was for the templar you killed… he was a friend. We're gonna take your keidran bitch to Kasura village, where the templar will hand her over to the wolf clan… where they'll execute her. Goodbye, blue" he said, before kicking Flora in the face and picking her up, the other templar coming up and kicking him until they thought he was dead, than left. Christian couldn't even move his eyes, he laid there for what seems like hours until he heard Keith shout, "Over here!" the entire group, Keith, Natani, Eric, and the servant, ran over. "I've seen this before…" Natani said, pulling the spear out. Christian immediately got up, yelling, "I'm gonna kill them! Them and that entire fucking wolf clan! I'll slaughter them all!" Keith grabbed his shoulders. "Christian! What's going on!? Where's Flora!?" he asked. "I'll tell ya what happened! Templar speared me with a magic spear and took Flora! Eric!" he grabbed Eric by the collar of his shirt. "You're from around here! Where's Kasura village!?" Christian yelled. "I-I have a map… why?" he asked, pulling out a map, which Christian snatched from him. "They took her there… I'm gonna go there… and kill them all…" Eric grabbed his shoulders. "You can't! there will probably be an entire detachment of templar there, and it's a residential village, full of families and keidran slaves… you can't"

"This is madness, Christian, just because you can kill a dragon with your bare hands doesn't mean you can defeat a templar detachment! And I'm coming with!" Keith yelled. "No, your not" Christian said, sprinting towards the village, a blue blur breaking the ground under his feet. "We won't be able to follow that… hope he can handle his own… bring her back, Christian" Keith said. They stood there for a minute, before the servant yelled, "He did what with his bare hands!?" Keith shrugged. "I'll explain. Come on"

Cheyenne was walking through the woods, thinking to herself. They had spent all night looking for the target, and had found him. He was dead by now, it was mid-afternoon, the kicking alone should have killed him. So imagine her confusion when a bladed tentacle, black but glowing cyan in some places, grabbed her and reeled her into a tree, to see that the end of the tentacle was the arm of the target. "H-h-how…?" she asked. "Like my whipfist? I'm gonna kill you all… but I need you to send a message…" he said, carving a message into her screaming body.

Jark was in the main tower, watching as a templar soldier beat the keidran-tiger girl. He had been offered a lot of gold for the transaction between the templar and wolves, and as the head of the village, full of hundreds, if not thousands on a budget… he couldn't resist. He felt sorry for the girl… she was young, no-one deserved this… but he needed the gold. Suddenly a body was thrown through the window. It was a girl's, she looked familiar… "Oh, my masks! That's Cheyenne!" one of the templar screamed. She was naked, bruised and mutilated, carves and cuts everywhere… and a message carved on her chest… _'Jack is coming…'_

"Jark, the templar will hold the entrance, if you wish… whoever did this, will pay" on of the templar volunteered. He nodded, and the twelve templar filed out of the room.

Christian walked up to the entrance of the village, seeing twelve of the templar that beat him and took Flora. "You! How are you alive!? How did you kill her!?" one of the templar asked. "Where's Roderick?" Christian asked. "Gone scouting, he's not here" the templar answered. "Pity. I wanted to personally slice him… oh, well… where's Flora?" Christian asked in a cold voice. "Ha! She was beaten unconscious! In the tower now, with the wolves!" another templar sneered. "Alright, now then… I give you an ultimatum. A choice. Option one: give her to me, and you all live. Option two: force me to take her, and I kill everyone in the village, woman and children included, to send a message" Christian explained, maintaining his cold voice. The templar looked at each other… and laughed. "Wh-wha can you do? We are highly trained templar, with hundreds of other guards, wolves and templar alike, inside! You're not even armed!" he sneered. "So… you choose the death option?" Christian asked. "YES!" all the templar said at once. "Fine, then…" Christian said. _'Let me do it, Christian… let me unleash our power, let me carve my name onto their corpses…' _Jack pleaded. _'Fine, but no bestial form… You'll kill Flora'_

'_Agreed…'_ Jack said, as Christian's body shook, signaling Jack's control. His hood shadow glowed red. "You're all gonna die…" Jack said in Christian's cold voice. The templar laughed. "Like I said, your not even armed!" one of them said. Jack grinned, and black and blue tendrils swarmed his body. His left arm turned into a claw, his right a blade, and his entire body was encased in black armor. When he first tested the armor, Christian didn't like the gray color, so he modified it. It was now a shiny jet black, pulsing cyan in some places, with a faceless helmet, red light leaking out of some of the fissures. "Oh, aren't I?" Jack sneered. All the templar jaws dropped. "Die, demon!" one of them yelled, rushing forward. He swung his sword on Jack's armored head… and it broke in half. Jack chuckled madly, and used his blade to cut the templar in half, and flicked it, creating a crescent bloodstain on the ground. "Go warn Jark!" one of the templar said, prompting one to run away. Christian pointed his blade at the group. "So… who's next?" he asked. "Your mad… you can't kill the entire village! It's murder! You monster!" one said. "Oh, now your just being nasty" Jack said, chuckling darkly. "Now… let's end this!" Jack said, rushing forward. The templar tried to slash him with their weapons, but they all missed… he cut and ripped them apart. When he was done, he looked at the mutilated body's, and laughed madly, yelling at the top of his lungs, **"JACK IS HERE!" **before sprinting into the village.

"Jark! There here for the keidran! They're decimating our forces!" the templar said as he entered the throne room. He heard the manic voice shout his name, and five minutes later, saw blood literally flying from the guards. Blood was gushing over the buildings, and no-one could stop it. "How many?" he asked. "Just… just one! The guy… the blue guy we we're sent to take the keidran from! He's a demon, or something! No-one can even hurt him!" the templar yelled. "Just _**one **_person is wiping out the templar and wolf army!? Send everything we have at it!" Jark yelled.

Christian, or Jack, was cutting madly through the streets. He rounded a corner, and saw more guards- wolf and templar. He plunged his claw into the ground, tunneling biomass under the group, causing giant, black spikes to pierce the ground, impaling the entire group. He jumped over a building, and formed hammer fists, bullet-dropping the next group and pulverizing everyone. Turning his hands back into a claw and blade, he sprinted into a square, where four one hundred groups were rounding him, and had him surrounded. Jack convulsed, than caused hundreds of tendrils to explode out of him, piercing and stringing up all the body's in biomass strings, making a spider web of body's. he sprinted, using his whipfist to slice apart anyone in front of him. _'We need to find Flora, NOW!' _Christian yelled. _'Working on it, there's hundreds of these guys!' _Jack answered as he got tired of the whipfist, turning it into the blade, and slicing everyone in sight. Hundreds tried to kill him. Either they couldn't hit him because he was too fast, or the armor stopped the swords. He ripped, cut, and sliced everyone in his way. The streets were coated red. He came upon a street and turned both of his hands into whip fists, jumping and spinning in the air, creating a giant saw blade as a sawed through three blocks. He finally came upon a street facing the entrance to the tower, hundreds on black tendrils swarming from his back as he consumed the bodies from the streets. A hundred guards stood in the way of him and the tower. They were all quavering and shaking in their armor. "We-we can't kill this thing! He just killed thousands of us, and we can't even scratch it!" a wolf yelled. "Oh, god, we're gonna die… what can a hundred of us do to it!?" a templar asked. "Stand your ground! We can take it- we outnumber him!" another templar encouraged. Jack turned his hands into normal armored ones, and channeled biomass into his hands. "What's he doing…?" a wolf asked. "Maximum pain… devastator!" Jack laughed maniacally as he shot his hands forward, thousands of pounds of air pressure and biomass rippling out of his hands, crushing and shredding the entire group, and blasting the tower doors opened. He nodded at his handiwork, and jumped in the air, landing at the tower entrance, and walking in, forming his right arm into a blade, keeping the other normal. There were a few templar, cowering in fear. On was backing against a wall. "You monster! What are you!?" he asked as Jack pierced his abdomen, consuming him. "Oh, no… please don't kill me!" pleaded another templar as Jack cut him in half. "I don't want to die a virgin- hrk!" another said as Jack snapped his neck. The last one was on the floor, his hands over his face. "Please, please don't kill me! I have a family! A wife and son living here! Please!" he pleaded. Tendricles- Christian's own invention, tentacles as thin as pencils, but can be several hundred feet long, and can sprout blades, one capable of lifting hundreds of pounds- sprouted from Jacks back as they mauled the quivering templar. He sprouted twelve, and they smashed a door open, leading to a staircase to the top. Each step had a guard on it… and there we're forty-two floors. He jumped to the top, a tendricle piercing and injecting a guard every flight of steps. Jack balanced on the top rail, the only thing between him and the throne room was the templar that had run off from the first group he had killed. The templar looked down as each person Jack invented had tendrils burst out of them… grabbing the other guards and pieces of the stairs… pulling them all in and causing them to explode with kinetic pressure, killing all the guards and turning the staircase into a web of body's and tendril strings. The templar looked at jack… and ran into the room, closing the giant doors. Jack shook his head before jumping to the doors, breaking them open with one swipe of his arm. "Guards! Kill it!" Jark ordered. Two royal guards ran up to him. One swiped a longsword, but Jack sliced it in half with his blade, and impaled the guard, tossing him in the air and slicing him in half, consuming him. He looked at the other royal guard, and dug his heel into the ground, causing a black spike to explode from the ground and impale the guard. It retracted, and Jack ripped hi heel from the ground. He looked at a large wolf as he stood over a bloody and broken Flora, her being unconscious. "YOU! You will pay for what you did to her!" Jack shouted as tendricles burst forth, wrapping around his neck and bringing the wolf to his knees. Two tendricles slashed his chest in an X, piercing the flabs of flesh and ripping his chest open. Jack used his hand to rip the screaming wolfs heart out, crushing and consuming it as the tendricles tossed his body away. "Do no fear the reaper…" Jack growled as the end of a tendricle turned into a scythe, slicing the head off of the templar. "For I am the reaper!" Jack finished as a tendricle wrapped around Jark's neck, pulling him forward. "What are you… a demon?" he weakly asked. Jack chuckled at the old fool. "No, not a demon… just a pissed off guy who lost his girl…" Jack answered him. "All this… all this blood and murder… for a keidran bitch?" he asked. Jack growled and flung Jark out of the window, listing to him scream until he abruptly stopped. He walked over to Flora's body and examined her body with viral sonar. "Almost all of her bones are broken… need to get to a cleric… back to town…" Jack said as he carefully picked Flora up. He jumped out of the window and glided to the edge of town, and set her down. "All these families… I will send them a message… this place will turn into a ruin…" Jack said as he plunged his hands into the ground. Giant black spikes engulfed the city, crushing, impaling, and mutilating anyone in the city, as it was covered in the bloody spikes. They wrapped around the tower, creating a castle of death. Jack took his hands out of the ground, looking at the spike-infested city, leaving the spikes in their place. "You monster!" a human male shouted as he burst out of the bushes. Christian impaled him, and consumed him. "James? Where are you? James?" he heard a woman shout. He turned into James and ran up to her. "James! I thought you died! Oh, my go… What happened?" she asked and embraced 'James,' until he turned his hand into a claw and impaled her, consuming the body. "Mommy…?" a little girl asked, hiding in the bushes. Jack turned into his original form and swung his whipfist, slitting the girls throat. He turned out of his armored form, and turned his hands back to normal as his body shuddered, signaling Christian taking back control. He looked at his own hands in horror. _'What have I done… what did you do!? You didn't have to kill all those families! You didn't have to kill that girl!'_ Christian yelled at Jack. _'I was sending a message… you should be thanking me…' _Jack said. _'We… can talk about this later… they can never know of this… ever…' _Christian thought as he picked up Flora's limp body, sprinting back to the town.

"We should just go… he's likely dead…" Natani suggested as she and Keith waited in Eric's house, looking out of the window. "No… he'll come… look!" Keith pointed as Christian sprinted to a clinic, carrying a bloody Flora. "Guys! Come on!" Keith said as he, Natani, Eric, and the servant rushed to the clinic.

"You will heal her…" Christian said, holding a blade up to the cleric's throat. "O-of course, I am skilled in healing magic, and have many crystals… she should be good as new tomorrow… fully healed…" he said as Christian shifted his blade arm into a normal arm. The cleric carried Flora away as the group burst in the clinic. "Christian! What happened!? Where's Flora!?" Keith asked. "She's hurt pretty bad, but the cleric will take care of her. Eric, I hope it's okay if we delay our departure another day?" Christian asked Eric. "Of course! As long as Flora is hurt, we'll take as much time as needed"

"What happened, though?" Keith asked Christina. "The templar were ready to hand her over to the wolves for execution…but I stopped it"

"How?"

"I stopped it. I would rather not go into detail… but Flora's here, alright? We'll leave tomorrow, leave this behind us" Keith shrugged, and the group left. Christian stayed at the clinic all day, watching as Flora was healed. _'You must admit… you finally cut loose… don't you feel nice?' _Jack asked him. _'We… you murdered hundreds, if not thousands, of families. They're all dead because of us. I don't care I finally got to use all of my powers… it wasn't worth it…' _Christian answered. Jack didn't say another word for the rest of the day. As the sun was setting, Flora looked fully healed, and the cleric sighed. "Alright, done, fully healed. Not a hair out of place. She may feel sore for awhile, but she'll be fine. No injuries whatsoever"

"Thanks, doc" Christian said as Flora stirred. "Ugh…" she moaned, than looked up at Christian. "Christian? Wha… what happened? The last thing I remember was that wolf…" Christian helped her out of the bed. "Look, it's alright, it's… handled. They're gone, the templar that took you, too. It's over, just… just come on…" Christian said as he helped her out of the clinic, and threw a bag of gold towards the cleric. They walked into Eric's house, and he helped her to bed. "Your all healed, but your gonna be sore for awhile… so just get some rest, okay?" Christian asked her. "Do you mind if you…" Christian chuckled. "Yeah, sure…" he said as he took his hoody and shirt off, and crawled in bed with her. It was nighttime, everyone was asleep. The servant was snuggling up to Eric while he was reading a book, when he heard a knock at the door. "I think I heard someone knock. Can you get that?" he asked her. "Nya, no thanks" Eric opened a eye. "Hey! What kind of servant says "no"?"

"Oops, I mean… zZz…" Christian heard the knock and carefully got out of bed, not waking Flora, and crept down the stairs to see Eric talking with… _'RODERICK! KILL HIM!' _Jack commanded. _'No! he'll recognize me, and Eric will freak. Just… stay still…' _Roderick motioned Eric to sit down at a table. "So, what's up, bro?" Eric asked Roderick. 'Bro…?' Christian thought. "Look, yesterday, at a night mission, we found a couple of the people we we're looking for, but…" the servant walked in. "Eric, who was at- o-oh, it's you…" she said glumly. "Hey, Kathrin… can you get me a drink?" Roderick asked. ""Kathrin?" you never call he that… you always call her "Spots…"" Eric remarked. "Look, I just… can you tell me if you recognize anyone here?" he asked, taking out a scroll and unrolling it. It had artists renderings of Christian, Flora, Natani, and Keith. "We don't know who the last two are, the wolf want the basitin, but the blue guy… my god, I saw it all… last night, we tracked him pretty near hear, we thought we killed him with that magic spear and we took the girl to the village… but in the afternoon, he showed up… I was on patrol outside the village, so I wasn't in the village… she was in the tower, thousands of guards standing in his way… and he killed them all. They were _templar_, and he murdered everyone in the village. I didn't see him, buildings were in the way, but I saw blood actually _flying_ over the rooftops… oh god, thousands of soldiers… and he killed them like that… he broke into the tower, killed all the soldiers, fought his way up through hundreds of royal guard, and threw the head of the village out the window… I heard people begging him not to kill them… he did anyway… he killed all of them in _five minutes_. _Five_. That-that's just impossible. I didn't even see him use any magic. He just… slaughtered them… I heard him shout his name, "Jack." he ripped them apart. Ripped… Jack the Ripper… I ran when I saw the head get thrown out the window… he has a million bounty… just… oh, god, he did all that for the girl… if we hadn't taken her… he killed them all…" Eric was shocked. _'I can't believe it. Christian… when he said he would… I thought he was exaggerating… a form that skinny shouldn't even be capable… should I tell Rod?' _Eric thought to himself. Kathrin brought Roderick his drink. "Here's your drink, sir" Roderick took the mug. Thanks, Kat…" he drank the drink, not even complaining that it was warm. Too shell-shocked. "Uh… no, Roderick, I… I don't know anyone here…" Roderick set the drink down. "Dang… probably a good thing… we're having a party at Dad's… you should come… see ya, Kat…" he said before leaving. Christian sighed and walked away. Kat heard this sigh. "Eric, excuse me for a moment…" she said before running towards him. Christian was about to turn the doorknob to his room when he heard Kat ask, "Christian…?" Christian turned around to face her. "…Yeah…?" she stepped back. "Is what he said… true? Did you actually…?"

"Yes… I didn't want to… but yes…"

"Why? Why did you do it?" she asked. She couldn't see the top of his face, but she saw a tear fall off his chin, and he punched the wall… which left a hole. "Because they were gonna kill Flora! I didn't wanna do what I did! But I did! They're dead because of me! I don't care about those templar pricks that tried to stop me, but some of them begged for their lives… had family's… and I killed them anyway! Them, and the people that lived in the village! Do you know how that feels!? To know that you caused the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent lives!? I… I wasn't myself when that happened! The only thing on my mind was getting her back, and…AH!" he fell to the floor and buried his face in his hands. "Just… don't tell any of them, okay? I have a lot of secrets… things that I don't want them to know about me… things that would make them hate me… just please, make Eric promise he wont tell any of them what I did at that village… I don't want them to see me as a monster. Just… just go, alright?" he asked her. She didn't say anything, just nodded and walked away. Christian got up and walked into Flora's room, taking his shirt and hoody off and crawling back into bed.

Christian woke up in the morning… with a burning sensation in the back of his head…"Agh!" he shouted as he fell out of bed, to see Flora's tongue sticking out. "Flora, that hurt!" he yelled. "Eep! Oh no! I didn't mean to do that" she said, waking up. Christian chuckled. "Flora, it's alright. We all lick things in our sleep once in a while…"

"But… I don't want you to think I'm weird"

"Flora, if anyone's weird, it's me. You licking me in your sleep doesn't bug me… much"

"I… if you say so…" Christian put his shirt and hoody on, and walked to Keith and Natani's room, and knocked on it. "Guys, get up. We gotta go" Christian called. "Natani, Christian is just saying to wake up. Don't worry, we're not in a hurry" Flora called. "Not in a hur- we already shirked a day, Flora!" Christian said. "Hey! How do you suddenly know keidran!?" Flora asked. "Uh… picked it up?" Christian asked weakly.

Eric was at a table, thinking to himself. "Hm, what should I do? It would be crazy to get on a boat with a mass-murderer. There's an awful lot of gold on Christian's head… I could be set for life…" Kat walked in. "Eric!… er, master… you aren't going to turn them in, are you?" she asked. "Well, why not? I'm a business man, you know that. No-one in their right mind disregards that kind of money"

"But… you're already rich"

"But did you see Roderick!? Nothing fazes him! Christian's a murderer! It isn't even humanly possible that he did all that without magic! I'm not sure if he's even human! Do you realize he only eats living crows? It's sick!"

"Erm, well… I've seen how they act with one another. He said he didn't like doing what he did… he wanted me to make you promise not to tell anyone… and they kinda remind me of… erm… of myself, sorta…"

"Hm? Yourself…? Wait, he talked to you!? He threatened you to make that promise, didn't he!?"

"No! I talked to him! He didn't even want to talk to me by the sound of his voice! He only did what he did for Flora…"

"You've never been this outspoken before. Why are you so adamant about me taking them? Why should I go out of my way to help someone who could kill me in my sleep?"

"Well, you wouldn't really be going out of your way. After all, you were planning on traveling after the festival anyway. You're always going to other towns, visiting… you other servants. I was thinking maybe I could go with you this time, and help you out…"

"So let me get this straight… You want me to travel out to sea on a boat for a month with a blue murderer… all because my slave wants to come along?"

"Oh… sorry Eric. That is stupid. I-I shouldn't have said anything… -whimper-" she sniffed and began to cry. "Eh… go check if they're awake yet…" Eric said. "Yay!" Kat cheered as she ran off.

Christian walked into his room, blue backpack packed. "Flora! We're… Flora?" he asked, not seeing Flora. "I'm up here, Christian" she called from upstairs. He walked up a flight of previously unknown stairs. "This place has _four _floors? Jeez, this place is almost as big as my mansion…" Christian remarked when he saw Flora leaning on a balcony, looking out at the sunrise. "Look at the view he has from up here! You think we'll be on one of those monsters, Christian? I've never been on a boat…"

"Same here" Kat chose that time to pop in. "You guys enjoying the sunrise?" they turned to look at her. "Yep…" Christian answered. She held out a pair of black robes. "Eric wanted me to give you these. You'll want to wear these robes on the way. It's going to be… uh… cold once we get out in the ocean" Christian stared at her. _'She wants me to wear _black _robes?' _Christian thought. "W-why are you staring at me? You… want those services now?" she asked. Christian held his hands up. "Wha? Oh-oh god no, it's just… I'm not wearing black robes" he said. "Why not?" Kat asked. "I will wear blue ones, but not black ones" BONK! "What is it with you and blue!?" Flora yelled. "Ow! It's a legitimate request! Just… please get blue ones?" five minutes later, the entire group, with Flora wearing a black robe and Christian a blue one… with the hood of his hoody sticking through the head-hole and covering his head. "Everyone ready? Give me a minute to put a seal on the house" Eric said. "Aw man, I hate robes! They really mess up my fur…" Flora complained. While they were walking, Natani separated to go buy mana crystals from a stall. They eventually made it to the dock, Keith buying the mana crystals for her. "Well, we made it. There she is, Na'Rella. She's not huge, but there should be plenty of room" They came to a large boat parked next to the dock. "It'll be another hour or so until my crew's ready. Feel free to have a look around meanwhile"

"Thanks, Eric, for doing this despite the… circumstances…"

"Eh, no problem. I was going to be sailing out anyways. The basidian islands are as good a place as any. Just don't forget that deal we had. I get Flora to pose for my artwork on the way there. Speaking of flora… I have to ask… this trip is going to take nearly a month. Flora's not in any danger of… you know, going into heat during the trip?" Eric asked. "Oh, no… we already had that adventure, she's good"

"Ah, good. Kathrin's safe too. That rules out all female keidran" Christian stared as Natani walked by. "Yeah… all two… I got to go check on something, seeya" Christian said as he walked up to Natani. "Hey, uh, Natani, this trip is going to take a month, your not gonna…?" Christian asked. Natani blushed. "Aw, crap… wait… I got a idea… tell me when it comes!" Christian said as he ran off. "Why?" she asked him. "'Cause I got a funny idea! And Keith will not like it!" Christian yelled as he found Flora leaning on a rail. "Hey, Flora, wanna go look around? Flora, you don't look good…" Christian said as he saw a sick-looking Flora. "I'm okay… I just suddenly felt nauseous for some reason"

"Wait, you get seasick?" Christian asked her. "Yeah… but, I think I'm alright now… urp, I think I spoke too soon… ugh, I wish the boat would stop swaying… back and… uuueegh…!" Flora shouted as she threw up in the water. Christian patted her back. "Uh… it'll probably be alright…" he said as they casted off.

The next day.

Christian was getting out of bed, forming his cloths and careful not to disturb Flora, when he saw Kat collecting Flora's cloths, and everyone else's cloths in a basket. "Oh, hello, Mr. Christian!" she greeted. "Kat, call me Christian. Mr. doesn't feel right. What are you doing?" he asked. "Oh, I'm collecting everyone's laundry so I can wash them… which reminds me, I'm gonna need you cloths" she said. "My cloths? As in the one's I'm wearing now?" he asked. "Yes, you've been wearing them since we met! I need to wash them" she said. "Uh, look, Kat, your not taking these cloths. Ever. They don't get washed" Christian said, backing away. "Now, Christian… cloths need to be washed. You can take those off the easy way, or the hard way" she warned. "Uh, now look, Kat… you should know…" he started inching towards the bed. "That you should always… look… for… possibledistractionsohlookwhattimeitisIneedtogobye !" he said as he threw a blanket at her, blinding her, and running out of the room. He got halfway down the hallway when Kat jumped on his back, attempting to rip the hoody off of him. "Give me those cloths!" she yelled. "No! they're dry-clean only!" Christian yelled.

Keith was rubbing his eyes and walking out of his room when he saw Kat trying to de-cloth Christian. "Ugh! Why won't this thing come off!?" Kat yelled. "Because, my cloths are loyal! Now stop trying to rip them off! They're vintage, they don't make these anymore!"

"They need to be washed!"

"Keith, tell her these things are clean!" Christian yelled upon seeing Keith. "Christian, you've been wearing those since _I _met you. And you have never once washed them. I think they need to be washed" Keith said. "You've had these things on for _that _long!? That's it!" Kat yelled, getting her claws ready. "Oh, no you don't!" Christian yelled, running to the deck of the ship. "Last chance, Kathrin!" Christian yelled. "No! Eric told me to wash your cloths, and I'm gonna do it!" Christian started channeling biomass into his legs. "Fine, then…" he said, jumping hundreds of feet into the air. "EEEEEEEEE!" Kat shouted as they went up. Christian altered his mass so he fell faster, than altered it again so he hit the ship with a soft thud and didn't rock it. He then caught a screaming Kat from midair. "These cloths stay on" Christian said as he put a mumbling Kat down and she curled up into a ball. "Was that really necessary?" Keith asked when he walked out. "Yeah, it was! She woulda saw my face!" Christian yelled. "So what? In fact, why don't you ever let anyone see it? The only person who ever has is Flora, and she won't tell us what you look like" Keith said. "Aw, come on, I wanna keep you guys guessing… 'Sides, if you knew, than that would be one less mystery about me to solve!" Christian said as he walked to his and flora's room. "Is Kathrin gonna be okay?" Keith asked. "I dunno, probably!" Christian called back. He opened the door to see Flora putting her green sweater on. "What was all that yelling?" she asked. "Oh, uh… Kat tried to take my hoody off… she's, uh… "Fine" now" Christian said, making air quotes when he said "Fine". "Define "Fine"" Flora asked. "Ya know… quivering in fear 'cause I jumped super high in the air while she was hanging on to me… so, yeah… fine" he said. BONK! "Why did you do that!?" Flora yelled. "She wanted to wash my cloths! You don't do that!" Christian argued. "Ugh, let's… let's just go get breakfast…" Flora suggested. "K…" Christian said as they walked out. When they arrived at the kitchen, Keith, Natani, and one of Eric's slaves, a fox keidran named Mike, were already there. "Hey, guys!" Flora greeted. "Hey" they all said back. They all began eating their breakfast… except Christian, who was leaning against a beam. "Hey, uh… you, your not hungry?" Mike asked. "I only eat crows, and they aren't at sea… so basically, I'm not eating 'till we arrive on the islands" Christian answered him. "What the- but the trip is a month! You need to eat something!" Mike yelled. "Don't try your luck- I've never seen him eat anything but live, raw crows. When he says he's gonna do something, he's gonna do it" Keith said. "Ah, I see you've learned from me, young grasshopper" Christian remarked. "Yeah, he's weird like that… in fact, Keith, have you ever seen him… uh, go to the bathroom?" Flora asked Keith. "Uh, actually, no…" Keith said. They all looked at Christian. "What… so what if I don't go to the bathroom?" Christian asked. "Will there be an explanation one day as to why…?" Christian put a hand on Keith's mouth. "Zip it" Keith swatted his hand away. "Ugh, don't do that, you taste… actually pretty nice… uh, I mean… look, Christian, you need to eat something" Keith said. "No, I don't" Christian retorted. Flora held a plate of food to his face. "Aw, come on, Christian…" Flora coaxed. "No, I'm not… wasn't I gonna teach you to read while we were out here?" Christian asked her. She put the plate away. "Oh, all right, fine…" she said. "Meet me in the library… here, take this, and try to read it, I need to know what I'm working with…" Christian said, giving her his _crooked man _book. "Okay…" Flora said as Christian walked to the library. "_The crooked man_?" Keith asked upon seeing the title of the book. "Oh, just an old book of his…" Flora said as she opened the book.

Christian was sitting in the library when Flora walked in, and tossed him the book. "So, what did you understand?" he asked her upon catching the book. "Not a single word" she sighed, sitting down next to him. "Well, at least I know what I'm working with here… wait, I seem to remember you read Keith's letter…" Christian said. "Yeah, but that was in keidran" she said. "So, you can perfectly read in keidran, but you can't read English?" he asked. "Yep!" she said. Christian sighed and held the bridge of his nose. "Alright, good thing I know keidran… I guess we'll start with translating keidran letters to English…" Christian said. They stayed there for the entire day, Christian teaching Flora to read. At the end of the day, Christian closed a book. "Alright, that's enough for today, how do you feel?" Christian asked Flora. "My head hurts…" she said, rubbing her head. "That's only natural… now, come on, let's go to bed…" Christian said. "Mreow!" Flora purred, grabbing Christian's wrist and dragging him to their room, Christian forgetting his crooked book. A little while later, Eric walked in and spotted the book. "Eh? I don't recall this book… _the crooked man_?" he asked, picking the book up and reading it. The next morning, Christian walked into the library, seeing a creeped out Eric clutching his book. "Oh, hey, there it is! Uh, Eric, are you alright?" Christian asked Eric. "Y-y-yeah, f-fine…" he said, running out of the room. "Wonder what his deal is…?" Christian wondered. Christian and Flora spent the next couple of days in the library, teaching her to read. After a week, Christian was walking towards the library when he was stopped by Eric. "Hey, Christian, do you know where Flora is?" he asked him. "Getting dressed. Why?"

"Well, I wanted to ask her if she could model for my painting. You've had her all week in the library, I thought she could use a break" Eric explained. "…Yeah, sure… suit yourself…" Christian said as he walked off, but went towards the art studio instead of the library. Eric knocked on Flora's door. "Flora, I wanted to know if it was alright if you could model for my painting today?" Eric asked through the door. "Oh! Um… alright, I guess…" she said. "Great! Meet me in my studio" he said, walking off.

Five minutes later, Flora walked up to the art studio, and opened the door. "Erm, Eric? I'm here for the, uh, paintings…"

"Ah, Flora! Good to see you! Come in, come in. close the door behind you how are you feeling?" Flora walked in and closed the door. "I'm… good…"

"There's no reason to be nervous, Flora. I know we haven't talked much in the last week, but we're all friends here, right? You can trust me. Now here, put this on" he gave her a light pink dress. "You… want me to change… right here?" she asked. "Why not…?" Eric asked. "Well, ah… I don't know… it's just embarrassing!" Eric chuckled. "Embarrassing? Aw, don't be ridiculous. I've never heard of a modest keidran. Come on, just take it off. I'll turn around if it makes you feel better…" Eric did as he said and turned around. "Your turned around, right?" Flora asked as she undressed. "Yeah, yeah, I'm not looking… directly, anyways…"

"…Eh?" Flora turned around to see Eric turned around… but looking at a mirror, and her. "Hey!" Flora started scratching Eric. "Kidding, kidding! Ow, ow, hey!" after she finished mauling him, he got a bandage for his head. "Already, let's get this over with" Flora said, a loose pink dress on. "Flora, what's the big deal, anyways? I've seen you naked many times in the last week" Flora sighed. "It's not the nude thing, I don't care. It's just… it makes me nervous when you're watching me undress. You really come across as a creepy pervert sometimes. Especially with that… sex slave of yours" Eric looked shocked. "What are you talking about? Kathrin? She's not like that… I've never taken advantage of her" it was Flora's turn to looked shocked. "Wait, you've… never…"

"No, not at all"

"But… you sleep in the same cabin!" Eric started painting while he explained. "Now, don't get me wrong, Flora. I have spent… "Quality time" with several of the slaves I own. But… when our family acquired Kathrin, she was just a kitten. I was only ten at the time. At first it was almost like she was a pet. But we got older. I won't deny that we fooled around occasionally, we were kids after all. We were curious. But… I guess I just respect her too much to do that. She really means a lot to me… I usually spend our nights teaching her how to read." Christian was on the ceiling of the art studio, feet anchored to the ceiling by tendrils, and squatting as to not be seen. _'He's teaching her to read, too? And he doesn't… well, Jack, seems we misjudged him'_ Christian thought. _'Indeed… he seems to be a valid man…' _Jack agreed. "Oh, Christian's teaching me to read, too" Flora said. "Oh, so that's what you two have been doing in the library… he hasn't been trying to get you to read that creepy book of his, is he?" Eric asked her. "_The crooked man_? Why?" she asked. "Well, he left it in the library and I read it… I will say this, the words on those pages will haunt my dreams forever. I never could imagine that someone could write such a creepy book… I respect him for teaching you, but tell him… tell him someone like you should _not _read what's in that book" Eric explained. "Why? He reads that book happily sometimes. I thought it was a happy story book…"

"That book is _far _from happy. I can't even describe it as a horror novel, it's so… disturbing. How does he sleep?"

"As long as I'm with him, he actually looks cute when he sleeps. And sometimes makes cute noises…"

'_I do not!' _Christian thought. "… he always makes these cute squeaking noises and always snuggles up to me… and always makes these cute high-pitched sighs. He really is adorable…"

'_Shut. Up. Flora.'_

"Well, that's… interesting. Well, enough about my past… hmm… I think this is a good enough warmup… now please take off your robes and bend over against that pole there" instructed Eric. _'And back to invalid… I'm not sure if we should eat him… we don't know where he's been…'_ Jack said. Flora took her cloths off and leaned against the pole. "I don't know about this… I knew this was bound to happen when I agreed…" Flora moaned. "Aw, come on, there's nothing perverted about posing nude… this is purely for artistic purposes"

"…You promise?"

"I swear. There is no reason to be nervous. Look at you… your tail is plastered between your legs. Come on, loosen up" Flora lifter her tail a bit. "Uh, how's that?"

"Well… you could lift it a bit more…" Flora lifted it more. "…A little more…" she lifted it more. "Maybe… a little-" she was about to yell at him, but saw that Christian was uncrouched, standing on the ceiling behind Eric, and blushed and smirked. "Why are you smiling…?" Eric asked. "Oh, uh… nothing… no reason…" Eric shrugged, and asked, "Hm… so tell me, Flora… how did a keidran like yourself end up traveling with Christian… a human?"

"What do you mean…?"

"Well, it's highly unusual for a human and keidran to be traveling together. Especially now that… well… war is so close"

"Huh… it's been so long… Christian… he saved my life, several months ago. I was a runaway. I was scared of him at first, and I think he was scared of me, too. I feared he would turn me in. but he never did. And… I guess I loved him for that. We've been traveling together ever since. Eventually one thing lead to another and we… uh… did as all animals do… -ahem-… plus, you haven't seen what the face under that hood is like…" Eric nodded, and muttered quietly to himself so she wouldn't hear, "Hm, Flora's more attached to Christian than I first thought. I wonder if Christian feels the same way?… Well, at least I got her tail up again. This is going to be a good painting…" Christian put his hands on Eric's shoulders and whispered in his ears, "You realize I do love her as well, right?" a second later, Eric ran screaming out of the room, leaving a Eric-shaped hole in the door. "…Too soon?" Christian asked, still hanging from the ceiling. Flora laughed. "Yeah, too soon… how are you doing that?" she asked him. "Oh, uh…" he activated viral sonar to look for a distraction, and saw Natani and Keith sparring in the lower deck. "Oh, look! Keith and Natani are sparring! I wanna see this!" he retracted the tendrils back into his feet, flipping in midair and landing on the floor on his feet. He planted a kiss on Flora's forehead. "We'll talk in our cabin, be there in a few!" he said, running out. "Hey! Oh, what's the use?" Flora asked herself.

Christian walked downstairs to see Mike and Evals, a dog kedrian and another servant of Eric's, watching. "Oh, hey Christian" Mike said. "Hey. So, what's the bet?" Christian asked. "Don't really see how it applies to you, winner get's the losers meal, and you don't even eat" Evals said. "Yeah, I know… I bet Keith" Christian said as Natani fell to the floor… and kicked Keith in the balls. "Ouch… -hiss-… that was a lowblow…" Christian said. Keith restrained Natani's arms around her… and her bandages ripped, exposing her breasts. "Uh-oh…" Christian groaned. "W-what just happened? Did he… just become a she? Did the basitin do it somehow?" Mike asked. "It must be black magic…" Evals agreed. Keith thought for a moment, than waved his arms in front of them. "Yes…! I used my dark basitin magic to turn him into a woman! Or something… so… go away! Or… I'll do the same to you! I guess…" Evals ran away, screaming, "Every man for himself!" Mike fallowed him, screaming, "Please, have mercy! You do not know what master Eric would do to us if you did!" when they left, Christian was rolling on the floor, laughing. "AH HAHA! Oh, man, did you see them!? Your killi'n me, Keith! Oh, man, that was funny…" he said. "Uh, Christian, I can explain…" Keith said. Christian chuckled and got up off the floor. "Dude, no need. I knew she was a woman the second I laid my eyes on her… wait, that came out wrong…"

"Wha-really? How did you know?" Keith asked. Christian flashed his eyes yellow. "These eyes can see everything, Keith… at least everything in a mile radius" Keith blushed. "Wait, so… you can see whatever we do on the ship, at any time… from anywhere?" he asked. "Yep. And that thing you did that one night was sick, Keith. Just sick…" Keith walked out, grumbling, "Oh, shut up, you have Flora…" Christian chuckled and went up to his cabin. He was reading his book when Flora walked in. "Christian, I'm back… oh, am I… interrupting?" Christian put the book, along with his hood, down. "Nah, I've read that thing a hundred times anyway… that was funny what I did with Eric. I told you I wouldn't let him do anything bad, didn't I?" he asked as she sat down on the bed next to him. "Yeah, it was… hey, what are you looking at?" she asked upon seeing Christian's eyes glow yellow. "Looking at Eric and Kat unconscious in a pile off books… guess he was telling the truth…" he said, his eyes going back to a cyan. "So, you still feel sick?" he asked her. "Nope! I still feel fine" Christian smiled. "Cool! Looks like you beat the sea sickness. I mean, you've been kinda… "unproductive" of late…" she threw a pillow at his face, than stood up from the bed, crossing her arms as the pillow slid off his face. "Oh, I see! You only care if I'm feeling well so you can get into my pants!… er, so to speak" Christian blushed. "Uh, no! it's just… well, I never get sick, so…"

"Hmph!" Flora said, turning around. "Flora, you know… we can just sleep…"

"Rawr! Gotcha!" Flora growled, jumping on him and pinning him to the bed. "Yay…" Christian said weakly.

The next morning, Christian was sitting next to Flora as she was eating breakfast. "Your eating a lot today…" Christian remarked. "Yeah, I've been very hungry recently. I'm not really sure why"

"Anything happened?"

"Mmm, nope… well, actually…" she looked into his hood shadow, learning where his eyes were in that thing. "I've been thinking… we've known each other for a long time now, right?"

"Six months and counting… half a year…"

"Well, that's a long time for us keidran… and well… I've been wondering… I mean, even though it would be impossible to do… have you ever thought about… well… um… marriage?" she asked him. "Christian…?" she asked worriedly at the lack of Christian movement. _'Uh… wha… huh… the bu… the… wha… huh…?' _Christian's thoughts were erratic as blood started coming from his ears and dripping off of his chin. "Oh, my… Christian, are you okay!? I was just speaking hypothetically! I didn't mean us!" Christian got up from the table. "Fine… I am… just gunna… gur ova der…" Christian said as he stumbled out. He saw Keith walking down the hallway and fell on the floor in front of him. "Uh… Christian, are you okay?" Keith asked him. "-Sigh-… I need help…" Christian said, muffled by the floor. Keith dragged him to his room and he got up. "Flora's talking about marriage" he said bluntly. "Alright, so Flora's talking about marriage, huh? It's not impossible. You can hold an unofficial ceremony if you like. So what's the problem?" Christian sighed. "Flora, it's… I have, considered this in the past, but… it wouldn't work out. I mean, if we did… I understand we can't have kids, I'm pretty sure I'm sterile, so that doesn't matter, but… if we did, she would want to know how I'm this strong and everything… and I would have to tell her, and if she knew the truth… I'm afraid she would leave me. That's the entire reason I don't want you guys to know… so you won't be scared of me, think of me as a freak, so… so I can stay with you guys. I… I just don't want her to leave me…" Christian explained. " I see… well, personally, I think that if she trusts you enough, she'll still love you despite your… whatever. You realize you can't lie to her forever, I see that…" he started walking away. "I can't tell you what to do. But if you want my advice, I suggest you wait until you figure out who you really are"

'_I know who and what I am… the problem is she doesn't…' _Christian thought as he walked back to see Flora munching on a chicken leg. "Hey, that was quick. Did you get that fresh air you wanted?" Flora asked him. "Yeah, no… but… Flora, we need a talk… about what you said…"

"Oh right! Um… what did I say earlier?"

"You said… you know, you asked me…?"

"Er… nope… I thought we were just making idle conversation before you stumbled off… hm, let me think…" Christian flailed his hands in front of her. "no don't! uh… it's okay, I, uh… let's talk about it later…"

"Oh, okay. If you say so, Christian"

'_Oh, jeez that was too close… I promise Flora, the truth… eventually…' _Christian thought. _'Heh, I figured he didn't want to talk about it. Take your time, Christian. I can wait'_ Flora thought.

Two weeks later

"Christian, it's starting! You said you had a idea!" Natani said as she dragged him from the library. "Oh, uh… lock yourself in your room? That's all I got" Natani face-pawed. "What!? That's not a plan!" Christian shrugged. "You haven't seen the entirety. Hey, do you know where Eric keeps the rope?"

"Yeah, why?" she asked. "Oh, uh… just a little surprise for a certain someone… heh heh…" Christian said, rubbing his hands together evilly.

That night

Christian watched as Keith slept, rope in hands. _'Okay, now where is it… there, hit that pressure point, and he'll be paralyzed, but fully awake and aware… perfect…'_ he used his index finger to jab a specific point on Keith's spine, awaking him and making him yelp, but then froze, his eyes darting and blinking rapidly. "Don't worry, you should be fine after a few days… plenty of time for Natani to go into heat and find you in the closet…" Keith's eyes widened at realization at what he was doing, and was darting side-to-side, as if saying "no". Christian picked up Keith's body and sneaked to Natani's cabin, putting his frozen body in the closet and sticking a note at a angle he could read. He then closed the door and walked out.

The next morning

It was raining outside, and Christian and Flora were in the library, taking cover from the storm. "You sure you don't want to sleep through the storm?" Christian asked her. "I rested all yesterday. My stomach stopped hurting hours ago… by the way, have you seen Keith?" Flora asked him. "Oh, he's somewhere… convenient…" Christian said, before falling on the ground, rolling around and laughing like a maniac. " I don't think I like the sound of that…" Flora moaned.

Natani was in her room, dealing with her heat, when she smelled someone familiar… "Keith?" she asked as she walked over to the closet… and found a paralyzed Keith. There was a not next to him. One side said, _"Keith: I thought this would be funny, and your always so serious. Loosen up, man. You should be fine in a few days. Your friend, Christian" _the other side said, _"Natani: do with him as you wish. If you want to unparalyze Keith, hit the bruise on his spine. Please don't- Christian" _she threw the note away and picked Keith up, putting him on the bed. _'I could just… no, I have to show control…' _she rolled him over and spotted the bruise on his spine, and jabbed it, causing him to sit up immediately. "-huff, huff- I'm gonna kill him! Natani, why… didn't you, uh…" Natani shrugged. "Well, I mean, that would be wrong… and you don't seem like the kind of guy that would like that…"

"No guy would like that… I mean, thanks… you know I do care about you…"

"Heh, the only person who's ever cared bout me was my brother… you should probably go…"

"Yeah… I can stay by the door if you want…"

"That would be nice… thanks…" Natani said, falling asleep. "Sleep well, Natani" Keith said as he walked out.

Christian was in Eric's room, discussing the trip. "So, we're not slowed down?" Christian asked Eric. "Only a little. But we've made good time. Winds have been at our back for most of the trip"

"Yeah, whatever that means… Eric, can I ask you something?"

"Ask away"

"Is it, uh… weird that me and Flora are in this relationship?" Eric shrugged. "Hah, I think you're asking the wrong guy. You know that I have a certain affinity for keidran. But yes, it is rather unusual to find someone who appreciates keidran in the way I do" Christian held his hands up. "No, dude, I don't have some fetish for keidran, I just love Flora, who happens to be a keidran"

"You mean like a serious relationship? I've never heard of such a thing work out"

"I'm gonna take a wild guess… short lifespan, right?"

"Precisely. For us, it seems short. Keidran tend to think we humans live unnaturally long"

"Is there something I can do? A magical spring or something?"

"I'm afraid not, Christian. Many wizards have wasted their entire lives trying to find a way to work around their mortality. Magic can do may things, but even it has it's limits"

'_Magic, maybe… but bio-science…' _Christian thought. "I think you should enjoy the time you have with Flora. There's no point in worrying about something you can't possibly change" Christian fixed Eric with a hard hood shadow stare. "Oh, really? What about Kathrin? She'll die of old age long before you, as well. don't underestimate me. I will find a way… even if it kills me" Christian said, leaving and slamming the door behind him.

Flora wandered down to the library, seeking shelter from the storm. _'I hope this storm doesn't slow us down. I'm getting sick of this boat. Maybe the library will help… oh, no, it's the hussy again' _Flora thought upon seeing Kat in a chair, reading a book. "Oh! Hi, Flora! What's up?" she asked, waving to her. _'Look at her, acting all innocent. I bet I know what she's really thinking…' _Flora thought. _'Oh, hey, it's Flora! Hi, Flora! I wonder what's up with her?' _Kat thought. "What are you up to? Is that a human book?" Flora asked. "Oh, yeah, I was just practicing my reading. If you want to read, feel free to take any book you like off the shelf. Eric won't mind" Flora rubbed her shoulder. "Well, um, actually… as a slave, it was illegal for a slave to learn how… Christian has been teaching me ever since we got on the boat, but right now, I'm not really that good…" Kat put her book down. "You can't read? That's not good! At least Christian is nice enough to teach you…" she got out of the chair. _'…Jeez… I wonder if Kat has back problems…'_ Flora thought upon seeing Kat's slender form. "Anyway, I can't read well, but I can show you what I know… I usually read the ones with pictures, they're easier"

"Wait, pictures? Let me see this…" Flora opened the book offered to her by Kat to see… "What the-? This book is just filled with perverted keidran artwork! Grah! Eric, you perv!"

Later, after getting a new pair of pajamas from Kat and mauling Eric, she went back up to the cabin she and Christian were sleeping in to and walked in, greeting Christian. "Christian, check out my new pj's!" Christian put his hood down and waved a hand, not looking. "There cool" he said bluntly. "Christian, you didn't even look!… what are you doing?" she leaned over his shoulder to see him working on a blackboard… with a lot of complicated equations and formulas on it. "A… little project" he answered her. "That seems like a lot… I don't even understand any of it…"

"It's a mathematical formula. Need to find a way to get rid of the protein coating around the membrane…" Flora shook his shoulder. "What does all of this mean?" she asked him. He turned to look at her. "It… it's just something really important, okay? I need to work on it…" he said, going back to the blackboard. "Where did you even get that?" she asked him. "Stole it from Eric's room" he answered. "Are you coming to bed?" she asked him. "No" he answered her. She jumped on the bed. "Aw, come on, Christian, come to bed. I'll even give you the honor of giving me a foot massage! You know you like to give those… and you're the best at doing them…" Christian chuckled and looked at her, smiling. "Oh, alright, fine… I got awhile before this is do, anyway… wait…" he heard footsteps running to their room and put his hood up before Keith rushed him, grabbing his throat and smashing him against the chalkboard, erasing all of his work. "Christian! What were you thinking paraly-" Christian grabbed Keith's throat and held them against a wall, lifting him up. "Idiot! Do you know how long it took me to-" he looked at Flora, who had a scared look, and let Keith down. "Keith, I'm sorry… what I did, paralyzing you and putting you there, was stupid… I apologize, but you erased the work I had on the chalkboard over there, and while I memorized the formulas, it's gonna take me awhile to redraw them, and I'd rather be alone with Flora right now, so we can talk about it tomorrow, okay?" Christian asked him. "I…bu- wha… okay, fine…" Keith said, leaving and closing the door behind him. "How long did he set you back?" Flora asked Christian when he took his hoody and sweatshirt off. "Honestly? It'll only take me thirty seconds to redraw those things…" he said, rubbing Flora's feet.

The next morning

Christian was awakened by knocking on the door. "Ugh… what is it!?" Christian yelled. "Guys, we hit land. Master Eric says to wake up" the voice of Mike said. "K!" Christian said. "What are you yelling about…?" Flora sleepily asked. "We're at the islands… we gotta get up… time to make an impression on the basitins"


	5. Chapter 5

**ANOMALY**

**Episode 5- Revelations**

"Holy… I can't even find a worthy word that goes with holy… dude, Keith, you didn't tell us this place was so nice…"

"What'd you expect, Christian? Huts and treehouses?"

"…Mebbeh…" they all gawked- except for Keith, considering he lived here- at the basidian islands. There were four statues of basidians that décored the entrance to the harbor, with tall building in the backround of the island. "Jeez, this place is practically a city… hey, Evals, can you come over here for a minute?" Christian asked Evals calmly. He came over, and Christian shook his shoulders, yelling, "Get this thing to that island as fast as possible so we can get off this god-forsaken water!" Evals nodded, and ran to the sails. "Hey, Christian, can I talk to you for a second?" Keith asked Christian. He shrugged and walked over to the other side of the boat. "Look, Christian, I've kinda avoided bringing this up for awhile… you know I consider you a friend, even though you almost got me raped, right? I would never willingly turn against you. But… if it comes to it… and I'm ordered by my people to do so… I will have to… try to kill you…" Christian crossed his arms, saying, "Keith, I understand the motive, but do you really think you can even do that?"

"I stopped believing when you killed that dragon"

"Exactly. If it does come to that, I'll paralyze ya, so don't worry. I don't kill friends for doing what their people tell them to do… even if they are a hard-ass sometimes"

"Thanks…" he said as they re-joined the group. As soon as they docked, Christian jumped out of the boat a hundred feet away, hugging the ground. "Oh, sweet, loveable, solid, dry, un-melting, holy land! I thought I would never see you again! You may be in the middle of the ocean, but I still love ya!" Flora ran up and put a hand on Christian's shoulder. "Uh, Christian… people are staring…" Christian got up from the ground, brushing himself off. "Oh, uh, sorry… l-let's go…" he said as they walked away into the town. They saw many basitans walking around, minding their own business and living there own lives. "Wow! Look at all the… Keiths! There are Keiths… _everywhere_!" Flora remarked. "Flora, that's racist! They all look different. They all have different color pigments, slight facial features, height differences… and I'm pretty sure Keith's not a pregnant woman… man, there are a lot of pregnant chicks…" Christian said. "Thank you!" Keith yelled. "Uh, guys… heads up. This doesn't look good…" they all turned there heads to see a group of guards with golden capes and helmets walk towards them, with three distinct looking individuals in the middle of the group. "What have we done to warrant the attention of all three basitin generals?" Eric asked himself. "The who?" Christian asked him. "I've heard about them. Hm, let me see if I can recall… ah, yes… I remember. The one on the left is the _intelligence general_. He's a veteran of the military. He's been around since the keidran-human wars. They say his knowledge rivals that of a dragon"

"…Mine would if I had consumed the one I killed…" Christian muttered to himself. "The big guy on the right is the _arms general_. In brute strength, he's the strongest of all the basitin. He's a match for even the mightiest of beasts… such as a dragon"

"I snapped a dragon's neck! doesn't that count for something!?"

"As for the third… I don't recognize him. But he must be the current standing _master general_. He's supposed to be a lethal combination of both intelligence and strength. The most powerful basitin. Able to take down even… a dragon"

"So basically they're me split in three?" Keith smacked him on the head. "Would you shut up!? We know you killed that dragon! Most of us were there! Would you stop gloating about it!?" the master general walked up. He had a scarred left eye, and the good one was a dark gray. He walked up to Christian first. "Is what I hear true? That you killed a dragon?" Christian rubbed his head. "If Keith won't smack me again for saying it, yeah" he then walked up to Keith. "…_You_?" Keith asked, a look of disbelief on his face. "Surprised to see me? I'm surprised, too. I never thought I'd see your face back here after all these years. I was sure you'd be gone for good. But now you're back, so…" he wrapped Keith in a hug. "Welcome home, brother!" Keith gasped. "Grah! General… I… can't breath!" Christian snickered and saw the intelligence general, a basitin with light fur and half of his left hear missing, walk up to them. "General! Such gross displays of public affection are not at all decent. Besides, this one is no brother of ours. He is an outcast, as you're well aware. Hmph. You come to us with you feet uncovered. How indecent… have you gone so native as to walk around in the dirt like a common dog? Have you no shame? Or have you grown used to living like a _keidran_?" the master general broke from Keith and Keith looked at the intelligence general sheepishly. "I'm sorry, general. I didn't remember-"

"Don't you speak out of turn, former Keiser! You may have left as a child but you're an adult now. You follow adult laws" Keith rolled his eyes and the intelligence general swung a club at him, but Christian caught it before it hit Keith's bucket helmet. "Jeez, dawg, chill! Man, Keith, I thought you were strict, but this guy… this guy takes the cake! I'm pretty sure you're the most _lenient _of the basitin!" the general pulled his club away. "Who do you think you are!? calling me a dog!" he angrily asked. "I think I'm the guy that just stopped his friend from getting clubbed. And I didn't mean dawg like… oh, for the, forget it, forget it!" he walked back, standing next to Flora and wrapping a arm around her. "And about that keidran remark… I happen to like them." he said. "Why that ungrateful…" the intelligence general muttered. "Hah, Keith I like your friend already… now, care to explain why your back?" the master general asked him. "I was banished on the condition that I could return if I brought back Trace. Unfortunately, he died, but I brought back someone of equal power that the humans want… Christian, what was your bounty?"

"Million" he answered. "Yeah, twenty- wait, million!? Since when!?" Christian whipped out a wanted poster of him… the reward being a million gold. "Uh, ya know when Flora was kidnapped and I rescued her… well, I kinda… sorta, maybe… killed an entire village of templar soldier, and I think they kinda got pissed at me for doing that…"

"Your telling us this now!?" Keith yelled. "Uh… surprise?" Christian asked weakly. Keith sighed, than said, "look, I want to put him through the three trials…" the intelligence general held his hand up. "Absolutely not. You were to bring Trace Legacy back. Yes, while this human _claims _to be as powerful as him, and is equally wanted by the humans, he can't go through the trials. He's not even a basitin!" the master general stepped up. "Now, Alabaster, no-one has ever even completed the trials, and I think I can find some loop-holes in the laws that say if he passes he can be in the position for a day… and Keith has a point, since he died, his only option was to bring back someone of equal power, if there is one… come, we can discuss it to the others…" they started walking into the city, with Christian hearing Mike scream from the boat. He shrugged, and started walking. "Everyone's looking at us…" Flora said upon noticing the stares. "You guys do kinda stick out" Keith said. "Hey, Christian… have you noticed anything… strange about the woman here?" Christian shrugged. "You mean other than the fact there all pregnant?" he asked her. Eric chuckled. "Your right, Christian. That's why I don't tend to visit the islands this time of year"

"I don't understand…" Flora sighed. "Flora, basitins… um, we… have sex only once per year… at the same time" Keith explained. "What!? Why?"

"Well, all females live together on the inside of our city, while all the males live outside the city. Living together, all our females have their cycles at the time once per year. So we have one week set aside for… reproduction. Outside that week, sex is forbidden"

"That's… horrible…"

"Is not! It's efficient and organized. And law"

'_I agree with him…' _Jack said in Christian's head. _'Oh, shut up, it's bad!' _Christian thought-yelled at him. They arrived in front of a tavern. "You will stay in this taver-" the master general started, but was interrupted by Christian. "Screw me! No, you know what!? Something screwy always happens when we do that! I ain't sleeping in there!"

"It's law" the master general said bluntly. "Ugh, fine, I'll do it… but I won't like it!"

"Anyway, Keith, your not free yet. Your friend has to pass the trials. You will be summoned soon. Prepare yourself, my friend… you, human. Are you not Eric, the slave trader?" he asked Eric. "Why, yes I am"

"Are those keidran your slaves?"

"Well… the spotten one is mine. The tiger is Christian's. And the wolf is on his own"

"Very well. We tolerate keidran, but we ask you to keep them under control" the intelligence general stepped up. "Yes, most certainly. We may tolerate their kind, but we do not tolerate their promiscuous ways. And make sure their feet are covered next time they're out. Public nudity is unlawful"

'_Thank god they don't know that these cloths are skin, and technically I'm naked… they'd probably arrest me… not that they could…' _Christian thought as they entered the tavern. "We leave you now, Keith. Good luck" the master general said as they walked away. They were greeted by a dark furred blue-eyed basitin. "Ah, customers! Welcome, welcome. I've been expecting you" Christian walked up to him, studying his face. "Nah, it couldn't be him, he's a basitin… guys, go on, I'll check us in" Christian said as everyone walked into the tavern. He re-joined them five minutes later, seeing Flora's feet wrapped in cloth. "What's with the wrapping?" Christina asked her. "Apparently, bare feet are considered nudity…" Flora said with a frown. "Seriously? Man, Keith, you guys are too strict… anyway, guy said he only had three rooms, so looks like your bunking with Natani again, Keith" Christian said. "Aw, man, not again…" Eric opened the tavern door. "Alright, I'm going back to the ship to get some supplies. We'll all meet back here at dusk, alright?" the group stepped out, and Flora walked up to Christian. "Okay, let's go look around, Christian!"

"Anything in particular you wanted to explore?" he asked her. "Food! Good food! I'm sick and tired of the ship's meals! I want fresh meat! Still bleeding! Mmm…" Christian shrugged. "Eh, I can relate… okay, let's go!" he said as they walked off to a butchers shop. After five minutes of walking, Flora pointed out a sign with meat on it. "Look, Christian. I think we can get something here!" Flora said, running into the shop. "Hey, wait for me! You don't know if they're organ traffickers!" Christian said, running in with her. They saw a bloody basitin woman cleaning a knife. "Well, if it ain't a little human an' a keidran missus. What can I do for ya?"

"Smells so good…" Flora moaned. "Uh, how much is your meat?" Christian asked the butcher. "Well, that depends, whatcha got, hunny?" Christian threw some gold coins on the counter. "I got this" he said. She picked a coin up. "Wha's this, more human money? Wait, this is a real gold piece… not broken up or nuthin'… {Roran, put a cow on the fire! We got some hungry customers!}" the butcher said, yelling in basitin. They sat down at a table as a male basitin brought out a plate of meat… which Flora started clawing into, rapidly eating the meat and getting blood all over herself. "Aaaah! It's _so _good!" Christian chuckled. "Uh, Flora, you wanna… maybe slow down?" he asked her. "Hm?"

"Nothing, just… trying to prevent you from choking… man, she's like when I eat, but without the whole genetic consuming thing… hey Flora, your not hungry like this often, right? Seeing this, I'm afraid you might try to eat me…" five minutes later, the entire plate of meat was gone and Flora was cleaning herself with a napkin. "Well, I'm all better! You wanna go look around?" Flora asked Christian upon cleaning all the blood off. "Okay, why not?" he asked as they got up. They walked outside, Christian's arm around Flora's waist. "…It's amazing, isn't it?" she asked him. "What be amazing?" he asked her. "These mountains! I've never seen anything so huge before! How do you think they were made?"

"You want the long, geeky, scientific version, or the short version?" he asked her. "Short!" she said quickly. "Well, tectonic plates under the crust-"

"I stopped understanding you after "Well". I thought you said it would be short!"

"That was short! Okay, fine, rocks underground move slowly, they crash into each other, the collision makes mountains. Happy?" she leaned on his shoulder. "How is it your so smart?" she asked him. "Eh, being home schooled by a scientist has it's advantages… and it's pretty much common knowledge where I come from"

"So, everyone where you come from is as smart as you?"

"Nah, I'm just that smart… anyway, that's where mountains come from"

"I like 'em… oh, look, there's Natani. Hey, Natani!" Flora waved as she walked over. "Eh, oh, hey, you guys. All's well?" she asked them. "Yup! And you…? Where's Keith?"

"Feh! Keith…"

"Oh, not you too with the "Feh's"…" Christian groaned. Natani continued, saying, "Why should I care where he is? He wants to hang out with his basitin friends… so, _fine_! I don't care what he does! I don't need him! I'm fine being alone!" Christian held his hands up. "Whoa, whoa, calm down… I mean, the guy hasn't been with his own kind for years, it's only natural he'd want to catch up" he said. "Fine! Whatever! I don't need you!" she said as she stormed off. "Alright, fine, jeez… hey, Flora, should we be out this far?" Christian asked Flora. "Relax, Christian! The docks are right over there. I like being out in the open. It reminds me of… my old home… it is strange for me to have fond memories of my time as a slave- mew…?" she meowed as she saw a passing green dragonfly. "Uh, Flora, what are you…?"

"Ah…" CHOMP! She attempted to eat the dragonfly, but it flew off and she chases after it. Christian chuckled and held his face in his hand. "Ah, that girl… she's the reason for my research I'm doing on that chalkboard… so I can make moments like this last forever…" Jack piped up in his head. _'This is not a good idea…' _he said. _'Look, she'll still be a keidran, just… better'_

'_you're beginning to turn into your father…'_

'_At least she'll still be alive! don't compare me to that… _man_…'_

'_Well, we still have problems with it, like making sure the cells don't burst upon entry of the reagent…'_

'_I know…'_

'_And making sure her genetics are compatible so it won't consume her from the inside out…'_

'_Yeah, Jack, I know…'_

'_And making sure that if they burst junk genes don't flood her system and-'_

'_I KNOW! We'll perfect it… soon. I will make sure she lives as long as me… the only problem is…'_

'_Making sure she'll agree?'_

'…_She will. Just… just wait, Jack… you wanna check on Keith?'_

'_Eh, sure, why not? Flora's busy with that dragonfly…'_ Christian activated viral sonar, spotting Keith in the public baths. "Ugh, the gates are all the way on the other side… and I'm lazy… okay, here goes…" he said to himself, before vaulting in the air, flipping in midair and landing on his feet on the other side. He walked into the building, rounding the corner to a private bath, hearing the voice of the master general. "Wow… that's incredible! From keidran to human territories… you've traveled nearly the whole world! I'm envious!" he than heard Keith's voice. "Yeah, well… it's not as fun as it sounds. Now can you tell me who she is already, Alaric?"

"Sure, sure… but you don't want to hear about my eye, first?… Aw, fine, I guess I can tell you later. Alright, the girl…" Christian chose that moment to enter and see the master general-Alaric- and Keith soaking in a pool. "Oh, hey guys, am I interrupting?" he asked them. "What the- Christian, how did you know I was here!?" Keith asked him. "Oh, I was looking around and saw you in here… so, what's up?" he asked them. "Ah, so you're the man Keith has been talking about! Would you like to join us?" Alaric asked him. "Uh, I'm good…" Christian said, avoiding the pool. "Well, anyway, Keith has been telling me many interesting things about you. Is it true that you only eat live crows?" he asked him. "Yes" he answered him. "And you snapped a dragons neck? And actually defeated a host of Neutral?" he asked him. "Why, yes it is!" Christian said. "… and that your sixteen and the tiger keidran your traveling with is the first girl you ever met months ago?" Christian evilly looked at Keith. "Oh, he said that, did he?" "Oh, yes… congratulations on, uh… 'claiming' her, by the ways" Christian grinned. "Ah, thanks, did Keith tell you about the time I paralyzed him and put his frozen yet conscious body in the closet of a female keidran going through heat?" he asked Alaric. He snickered, than laughed. "Oh, oh my… you did what!? Oh, my gods, that is hilarious! Keith, how dare you let that one slip by you?" Alaric asked Keith, eyes tearing from laughing so hard. Keith blushed. "Hey, that wasn't funny! Anyway, before we were so rudely interrupted, the girl?" he coldly asked Alaric, who calmed down. "Okay, you mentioned that you were taken care of by a family of foxes? Interesting… it was a keidran of the fox tribe who arrived here. She said she was looking for you. The elders told her you would never return… according to her, it was her only hope left, however, since you shad gone into human lands. Now what was her name again… Lanie? Lorie?" Keith's eyes widened in realization. "_Laura_!" he shouted. "Ah, right, that was it. Who is she?" Keith looked utterly shocked. _'Well well well… looks like there is hope for him to have love after all…' _Christian thought. "She is… was…" Christian threw his hands up. "He'll be stuttering all night, she was gonna marry him!" Christian yelled. Alaric chuckled. "Fiancé, wow… I had no idea…"

"She's still on the island, right? Where is she?" Keith asked him. "Relax, Keith. She's living in the non-basitin district. However, you'll never make it there before curfew. Tomorrow, I have something to show you at the front castle. Then, I'll show you where she lives. Until then, enjoy yourself, Keith…" Christian saw him nudge Keith's foot with his under the water. Keith put on a flustered look. "Alaric! That's highly inappropriate! You know I hate it when you do that!" Alaric rose from the pool. "Heh! You still get flustered so easily. You always were the uptight one"

"Tell me about it…" Christian said. "I'm not uptight! I just obey the decency laws. As you should, too!" Christian started walking out of the baths. "Heh, I'll let Alaric take you home, Keith, see you at the tavern…" Alaric waved at him. "Goodbye! Good luck in the trials…" Christian waved back and walked outside, vaulting over the fence and looking for Flora when a guard caught up to him. "Christian, trial competitor… it gets dark rapidly here on the island. Curfew takes effect at the last light of day. Please make your way with haste" Christian nodded. "Alright, sure… Flora, where are you!?" Christian yelled. Flora came out of nowhere and ran up to him. "Christian, I found one!" he spotted something glowing blue in her hands. "Ooh, it's blue, what is it?" she unfurled her hands to reveal a glowing blue flower. "It's a subtle flower. They're usually quite rare… it's just like what's in my necklace. If I give you this, it will signify that we are a couple…" Christian was wary of the flower. "Weren't those the things that made you guys crazy at the festival? Anyway, that doesn't matter, Flora, we've done… uh, things I probably shouldn't mention in public around here. I think we're good on couple status"

"Oh, well… yeah… but we kinda got rushed into things back then. You gave me the necklace by mistake… but this would make things… official, I guess… I mean, if you want it…" Christian reahed out and gently took the flower in his hands. "Flora, if it's official… I do, in a weird sappy sorta way…" she leaned in for a kiss, but Christian darted off. "We should get back curfew is soon!" Christian yelled as he got farther away. "Oh, why you-Christian!" flora yelled as she ran after him. When they got back to their room in the tavern, one vase of water (And a few scratches later) and Flora was undressing on the bed, looking out of the window. "You feeling okay, Flora?" Christian asked her. "I'm fine, Christian. Just enjoying the scenery. This island is beautiful. I am a bit tired, though" it was then they heard a knock at the door. Christian opened it to see Keith. "Oh, hey Keith, what's up?" Christian asked upon closing the door behind him. "Look, Christian, your stealthy, right?" Keith asked him. "Close your eyes…" Christian instructed Keith. He did so, and heard Christian sigh. "Man, I hate wearing other colors… okay, open 'em" when he opened his eyes, he gasped when he saw his cloths were black. "along with my viral sonar to see where the guards are, I can shift my mass and weight so I don't make a sound while running. Stealthy 'nuff for ya?" he asked him. "Yeah… look, I want Laura to know I'm here, can you… fine her and tell her that I'll be waiting for her?" he asked him. "Hm… and it's curfew, I see the reason for stealth… alright, fine, where does she live?" Keith pointed towards a direction opposite of them. "Where the non-basitins live. Just… find her, please?" Christian sighed. "Alright, fine… since it's for love" he opened the door. "Flora, I'm breaking the law for Keith so he can have his lost love, be back in a hour" he called. Flora laughed. "Okay, I'll be asleep by then, just crawl in bed with me when you get back… wait, Keith's love?"

"Okay!" Christian said as he slammed the door, and vaulted out of the window. Flora opened the door. "Wait, does he mean Laura?" she asked Keith. "Yeah… she's looking for me, I want Christian to tell her that I want to see her… hope he'll find her okay" Keith said. "Don't worry, he will… he's amazing that way… and many others…" she winked at Keith before closing the door behind her and falling in bed. "Wait, does she mean… that he… I… oh, come on! I mean, he's only sixteen… I'll have to ask him… Keith grumbled as he went to his room.

Christian was hopping from building to building, avoiding the guards and making his way to the district where Laura lived in. _'Alright, now where is she… hm, there's a few keidran in that apartment complex, I'll look there' _he sneaked into the lobby of the run-down apartment complex, to see a female dog and male wolf keidran kissing and leaning on a wall. "hey, uh, sorry to interrupt, but do you guys know where Laura lives…?" the wolf pointed upwards, and he looked with viral sonar to see a fox keidran above the finger. "That's probably her… thanks!" Christian whispered as he crept up the stairs and the wolf guy gave him a thumbs up. He went up to her door and knocked on it. "What the… coming!" he heard a timid voice from inside call. What he presumed to be Laura, a blue-eyed fox, opened the door. "Yes…?" she asked hi, shying behind the door. "Uh, yeah, so I got a message from Keith, he says he wants to see you, and from what I know, he's doing something with Alaric, the master general, tomorrow in front of the castle" she immediately popped out from behind the door. "W-wait… Keith… he sent you?" she asked him. "Uh, yeah, guy was worried about you, so if that's it, I'm gonna…" she ran over and hugged him. "Oh, thank you for telling me, I was worried he wouldn't want to see me and-" Christian pried her off of him and stepped away. "Uh, look, glad your excited, but… I gotta go…"

"But it's curfew! If you want, you can-" Christian started running down the stairs. "Look, I would love to, but how do you think I got here in the first place? Just gonna sneak back, seeya later!" Christian called as he ran out of the front doors and started sprinting back to the tavern, any guards that heard him only catching a black blur rush by. He turned his cloths back blue and hopped into the window to Keith and Natani's room, ending the yelling he heard earlier. "Keith, gave Laura your message. She was… eccentric" Keith's eyes widened. "What- really!? She was?" he asked him. "Yep, she seemed really excited. So if that's that, I'm gonna go to bed…" Christian said as he walked out of the room. "Wait, Christian, are you sure you don't want-"

"I'm good, Keith! Just call it me doing a favor for a friend!" Christian called back to him as he entered his room and crawled in bed with Flora, careful not to disturb her and shifting out of his hoody and shirt.

He awoke the next morning when Flora shook him awake. "Come on, Christian! Wake up, sleepyhead! It's morning, the sun's up!" Christian cracked his eyes open. "Ugh, are the crows up yet…?" he asked as he sat up. "You know what this means, right? We've managed to spend an entire day in a town without anything going wrong!" Christian chuckled, saying, "Since when has anything ever gone wrong?" he asked her. "Well… in the first town Keith tried to kill me… then, in the second you had to kill that templar and got us wanted… after that I was possessed by Neutral and tried to kill everyone. On the day we reached the port Natani tried to kill us… then I was kidnapped by the templar…" Christian held a hand up. "Alright, jeez, I was being sarcastic! And I was there to stop, if not start, most of those…" Flora looked out of the window. "But… I think things are going to be better here. I think we've finally gotten far enough away from the war" Christian stared at her. "…And, ya jinxed it, Flora…" Christian groaned. "Oh, sorry… hey, you wanna go look around some more?" Flora asked him. "Yeah, sure…" he said. While her back was turned putting a shirt on, he re-formed his cloths. When Flora was fully-clothed, they walked out of the tavern, walking the streets. "Nya! The weather's so nice today!" Christian walked out, stumbling a bit. "Speak for yourself, it's cold out here! I don't cope well in cold!" Flora walked up to him and hugged one of his arms. "Hm…? Oh, right, you don't have any fur! Well, I could help keep you warm. Hey… a dragon! Is that… uh, what was her name…?" Christian turned his head to see Nora bathing in the harbor where they parked the boat. "Hey, it's lady Nora the magical dragon!… yeah, that sounded wrong… hey, uh, Flora, I'ma go talk to her, can you wait here for a minute?" Christian asked her. "Huh…? Oh, uh, sure, Christian. No problem" Christian walked a safe distance from her. "Alright, be back in a bit… woohoo, this is still cool!" Christian yelled as he jumped hundreds of feet in the air, gliding towards Nora. "Aaaw… Christian doesn't want me with him?… then again, I'm good without another flying lesson…" Flora grumbled to herself.

Nora was starting to leave the harbor when she saw a blue dot growing bigger from the sky… plummeting towards her… "Oh, wait, I forgot docks were made of wood! Christian yelled as he landed on the dock, the lower half of his body going through the dock. He looked up at Nora. "So, how's it going?" he asked her. _"What the- Christian, how did you get here?" _Nora telepathically asked him. _'Oh, I jumped. You follow us here or somthin'?' _Christian though-asked her. _"Oh, I just… kinda transformed into a cat and stowed away on the boat…" _Nora replied. _'Oh, so you were the white cat I saw… anyway, just bathing?'_

"_Yes, I was just leaving… you wanted to talk?"_

'_Eh, well, I… said I wasn't gonna be long and Flora is waiting for me, so… I kinda gotta go… can you help me?'_ Christian asked her. _"Of course!" _she said, biting him and ripping him out of the dock, spitting him out. "Thanks, Nora! See you laterrrr!" Christian said as he jumped off. _'That thing… is so strange… just like Trace when he was young…' _Nora thought to herself.

Christian landed at the tavern entrance, and walked in, seeing Flora talking to Natani while the wolf was making some necklace out of mana crystals. "'Sup, guys?" Christian asked as he walked in. "Oh, hey, Christian! How did the talk with Nora go?" Flora asked him. "Eh, so-so, anyway, I'm bored, so…" he was cut off when he heard someone walk in. "E-excuse me…" Christian turned around to see Laura standing at the door. "Oh, hey, Laura… looking for Keith?" Christian asked her. "Yes, I went to the castle, and they wouldn't let me in…"

"Eh, no problem! Flora, this is Keith's ex-wife, and I'm gonna go help her find Keith, so… be back again in awhile!" Christian said as he grabbed Laura's arm and pulled her out. "Oh, okay… by, then…" Flora weakly said a he left.

Keith was following Alaric to the location he was bringing him to, the surprise at the castle still shocking him. There were actually _templar _on the island, building a tower… and he had watched Alaric wield magic… he didn't trust the templar, not after they took Flora. What Alaric said to him still riveted his mind.

"_Look, Christian isn't your concern anyways. The templar want him for what he did, and there gonna take him tomorrow night, after he's done with the trials. I still don't think he'll win, no-one has ever won, but they think his friends know too much now" Alaric explained. "…What do you mean?" Keith asked him. "Well, the human known as Eric, his slaves, and the tiger aren't immediate threats. The only one we're concerned about is the wolf. The templar believe he's a spy. They want him removed. The other generals wish to… test you loyalty"_

"_Wait… your asking me to… to kill Natani?"_

"_We're not asking, Keith. I'm ordering you to kill the wolf known as Natani before your trial tomorrow morning"_

The conversation shook Keith. He didn't believe anyone could capture Christian. They would fail, he would go on a murder-spree, and probably find out he betrayed him, and torture him in everyway imaginable. And he didn't want to hurt Natani… _'What am I going to do?' _he asked himself as they entered the building Alaric led them too. "I'm sorry to put all this on you so soon after you've returned. But it's still before noon. You have a whole two days and two nights to complete the mission. Which means… you have time to see what I really wanted to show you!" Alaric said, opening a door to reveal a room which housed a naked, faceless basitin statue. "Ta-da!"

"W-what is that?" Keith asked. "It's you! A tribute to the banished warrior! I started it a year ago as a pet project. I guessed on your proportions… I though you'd be taller, but it's close! Good thing you still have all your limbs intact! Yet, I couldn't finish you… details… without you being here! So, do you like it?"

"Er, why am I… naked?"

"Oh, you're not! Not completely!" he pointed to the statues feet, which were covered. "See? Covered. So it's decent. Now, I need you to strip your cloths off…" five minutes later, Keith was holding a pose with a sword, naked and blushing. "Alaric, is this really necessary?" he asked him. "Don't worry, Keith! I only need an hour or two of your time. I cant finish this statue of you without you modeling for me!" Keith sighed. "…But do I have to be naked? doesn't this violate a dozen decency laws?"

"No, no, of course not! I can't order you to do anything if it violates the laws. And I've studied the laws carefully. Since this is for artistic purposes, it's exempt from the decency laws! Now just hold that pose and I'll get to work!" Alaric said as he started chiseling the statue. "…_Great_… what else could possibly happen to me today?" Keith asked himself, before Christian popped his head through the door. "Oh, Keith… aw, jeez, dude why are you naked!?"

"I'm… ugh, _modeling_…" he answered. Christian smiled. "Remember when I said if you were ever naked and a lost love of your was present? Well, I happen to have Laura here…" Keith dropped his sword. "Christian, don't you dare-"

"Too late!" Christian said as he thrust a blushing Laura into the room. "L-Laura…?" Keith asked weakly. "**Kyaaaaaaaaaaaah! **Ah! S-sorry, sorry! I d-didn't know y-you were… busy…! I-I'll wait outside!" Laura said, covering her eyes and running out. Both Christian and Alaric were laughing hysterically. "Oh, oh man, did you see the look on his face!? Priceless! Aw, oh man…" Christian laughed. Keith walked over and smacked him to the floor. "What is wrong with you!?" he yelled at him. Alaric wrapped a arm around him and tickled the tuft of fur on Keith's chest. "Aw, don't be mad at him, Keith. It was pretty funny, and I did need you to finish my statue… but for now, go ahead and go with your lady friend. I need to talk to Christian about the trials…" Alaric said, prompting Keith to run off for a set of cloths. Christian got off of the floor. "Okay, that was harsh… anyway, what about these trials I gotta do?" Christian asked Alaric. "Come, let's walk and talk…" Alaric said, still grinning.

They were outside now, walking towards 'The Arena' as Alaric called it. "Now, look, to prove your as powerful as Trace, and have a say in him coming back at his trial, you have to complete the Trials of the _ulti-general_" Alaric explained. "The what to be the who?" Christian asked him. "Heh, you see, there are these trials. If you complete them, your given the honor of being dubbed stronger than the three generals combined, and having the high position of ulti-general, a general that commands the three main generals. The first trial is a hand-to-hand full-fledge combat arena match against the arms general… just fists, no weapons or anything"

"I thought the arms general was the strongest basitin? Kinda makes it hard to beat him in a fight of strength…"

"Exactly. The trials are so hard no-ones ever even completed them. They always failed. The second trial is fighting the master general and a squad of his best men in a sword duel…"

"Can see how that would be hard, considering your own skill and the fact you can strategically place men…"

"Exactly! Jeez, do you always interrupt people when they explain things? Anyway, the third trial is a test of knowledge against the intelligence general. NOW, any questions?" he asked Christian. "Uh, just two… anyone ever pass the first trial?"

"Nope!"

"And your fine with me fighting you?"

"Yeah, I'm looking at your skinny form, and I think he'll snap you like a twig… no offense"

"Eh, none taken. a lot of people underestimate me like that… anyway, this the arena?" Christian asked as they came upon a giant coliseum-like structure, a circular building with no roof and the middle being a giant, open battleground. "Yes, this is where you will fight us… you are to arrive in the recreation room tomorrow morning to prepare yourself with the battle with the arms general"

"Oookay, this is a little too much like roman-times, but… I'm not one to complain. If it'll get Keith back into society, I gotta do this for the brother"

"It's getting dark. You should go back to the tavern" Christian bent his legs, getting ready to jump. "See you on the battlefiellld!" Christian shouted as he jumped into the air, gliding towards the tavern.

Flora was standing in the middle of the tavern, doing nothing and waiting for Christian to return. "Christian has been gone a long time. It looks like it might storm soon. I hope he's alright, he hates the rain…" she felt someone grab her tail, and she spun around, clawing at the assailant. "Gah! Eric, you pervert! Stop touching my tail!" Christian backed away from her, the shreds in his cloths bleeding. "Ah! Flora, it's me, stop mauling me!" Flora immediately stopped clawing and held her hands to her mouth. "O-oh no! Christian, I'm so sorry! Are you alright? I didn't mean to hurt you…" she asked, walking up to him. "Yeah, I'm fine… next time I'm just gonna try grabbing a toe… least then you would have to bend down to maul me…"

"Oh, don't say that, Christian! I didn't mean to…"

"I know, your forgiven, I would have done worse to Eric…"

"So where did you go? You were gone for more than an hour"

"Hour? Oh, jeez… Alaric showed me the arena I have to do the trials to get Keith back into… not excited about that…" she grabbed his shoulder and leaned on him. "I'm just glad your back, Christian! It's been so boring without you here"

"Well, maybe we can go mountain climbing… if they even let us…" a angry-looking basitin walked up to them. "_Ehem_! Do you two mind? Physical contact is prohibited by law, and I won't have it in my tavern! And ignorance of the law is no excuse! If you feel you simply must… _touch _one another, you can do it in your own rooms!" Flora let go of Christian and threw her arms up. "Aw, come on! Laws about how we dress… laws keeping us here at the docks… now laws against even touching!? What's with these people and all their rules!?"

"No yelling! Damn keidran…" the basitin muttered while he cleaned a table. "…Christian, smite him" Flora ordered. "Smite? Really?" Christian asked her. "I know you can! Just throw him up the mountain or something, come on!" Christian chuckled. "Yeah, maybe later. Come on, that talk with Nora reminded me of something that I wanted to show you" they walked to there room, and Christian closed the door, letting his hood down and laying a map out. "Okay, so get this… Nora told me of a place where humans and keidran co-exist! It's just over her, past this deadly forest of tigers!" Christian said happily, pointing to the spot on the map. Flora looked shocked. "A place where human and keidran live together… but… this takes us right through my homeland… Christian, this is dangerous!"

"How can anything be more dangerous than me?" Christian asked her. "Christian, don't you remember what you are? You're… a human! My people have very little interaction with your kind. Most haven't even seen a human before!"

'_Good thing I'm not human, then…' _Christian thought, before saying, "Look, it would take months to go around, and I'm lazy, so we're going through. Plus, I'm a dragon-killing… _human_… so I think I'll be good. Plus, I kill templar. Wouldn't that give me a plus in there book?"

"I hope so…" Flora muttered. "Hey, you wanna ask Natani what she's gonna do?" Christian asked her. "Oh, I hadn't thought of that! I'll ask him!" she said, running to his room, but coming back. "Wasn't there?" Christian asked her. "No… but, I'll ask him when I see him… what do you want to do now?" she asked him. "Uh… wanna go outside?" he put his hood up and they left the room, opening the front door to see it raining outside. "Aw… it's raining…" Christian backed up. "Yeaaahhh… I'm not going out there, but, we could always do something in here…" he felt two pairs of furry hands fall on his shoulder. "Oh, hello, Christian. Need something to do? My offer still stands on my services" he turned his head to see Kat, and backed up. "Um… services…?" he asked her. "Oh yes! Master Eric says it's very relaxing"

"Okay, I'll bite, what are these services?" he asked her. "Why, my special massage, of course! What else would it be? I've been told I'm quite good, but I'd love the practice" Christian face-palmed. "You mean all this time…! Look, Kat, I hate to break it to you, but… I think I give the better massages" Kat frowned. "What…?" she asked him. Christian sighed and activated his viral sonar, making his eyes glow yellow. "Look, when you have the canny ability to see peoples pressure points, you tend to give good massages, ask Flora" Flora nodded. "It's true, he does give great massages" Kat crossed her arms. "Really? I would like to see that one day… anyway, the real reason I'm here is on behalf of my master. Master Eric wishes to speak with you about when we'll depart" Christian shrugged and walked up the stairs. "It's one thing after another today, isn't it? Alright, be back soon, Flora…" he said as he walked into Eric's room. After discussing with him the specifics of where they were going, he agreed. "So it's agreed. I'll take you where you need to go. I'll give this map to my crew when the rain stops. Wait! I sense…" Eric darted off down the stairs. When Christian leaned over them, he saw Eric talking to Laura, who entered with Keith, and face-palmed. "Ugh, why am I not surprised? 'Course a perv like him would have woman-sonar…" he groaned to himself. He walked down to intervene when he saw Laura freaking over Eric kissing her hand. "Eric, really? I-I mean, really? That's Keith's… oh, for the love of, forget it, I'll let Keith deal with you!" Christian yelled at him. He turned around when he heard a "WAAAAAAAAAAAH!" from the other side of the tavern. "Huh? That sounded like Kathrin… oh, boy, what the hell now!?" Christian yelled as he stormed off to the origin of the sound. When he arrived, he saw Flora standing in front of a bunch of basitins… naked. "Alright, I'm going to blame Kat for this, somehow…"Christian groaned. "Massage gone wrong…" Flora muttered. "Yep, I knew… wait, you let her give you a massage!? I thought only I did that! That really hurts, you know…" the angry basitin from before stepped up to them. "That's it! That keidran of yours has broken our most basic laws! She needs to be detained!" Christian's hood shadow glowed red as Flora hid behind him, moaning "Christian…" Christian chuckled darkly. "Detained? You aren't detaining anything" the basitin attempted to get past him. "Out of the way, human! You have no say in this…" Christian's hand shot out and grabbed his throat, lifting him off of the ground. "No say, huh? Well, I think I should tell you what happened to the last people that tried to take her from me… the entirety of Kasura village paid… that's where I got that cute nickname from the templar… 'Jack the Ripper' ring any bells?" he asked him in a cold voice. He heard whispers from the other basitin patrons. "What the, he's not actually-"

"Yeah, he is! He's wearing the same cloths and fit's the looks!"

"Man, I heard about that! isn't he fighting in the trials? The generals have no chance!"

"I hope to the masks that that guy backs off, or else he's dead…" a shocked look came upon the look of the basitin he was holding, and he waved his hands. "Okay, okay! I'll let her go, just please don't kill me!" Christian chuckled darkly. "Wise man" he said as he dropped him. A guard came up to him. "Look, sir, I'm afraid I have to detain her for breaking the decency laws. If you wish to challenge me, I can let this mishap slip my mind, but if you lose, I'll have to take her in" Christian laughed sickly. "Alright, fine, it doesn't matter to me who dies at my hand" the guard got into stance. "You realize this doesn't involve killing, right? And how can you win? You don't even have a weapon" he said as he rushed him with a spear… which Christian grabbed and snapped in half, then flipped over the guard, jabbing a spot on the back of his neck, causing the guard to yelp in pain and fall to the ground, writhing in pain. "Pressure points- learn where they are. They're only as big as the head of a pin, ya know? Requires much precision to hit. Look it up. Flora, let's leave" Christian said, his hood shadow going back black as they walked to their rooms. "Christian, did you really have to do that? I mean, the way that guy was in pain…" Flora asked him, wincing. "Relax, he'll be fine in a couple of minutes, and would you rather go to jail?" he asked her. "No… I guess… so, I want to know, what did Eric say?" she asked him. "Oh, he said we'll sail to the mainland, and that it'll be a shorter ride. He wanted you to model again, though"

"Oh, no… you didn't agree, did you?"

"What do you think?"

"…"

"I said if he ever suggested that again, I would have Keith turn Kat into a dude, so no, you don't have to" Flora walked over and wrapped him in a hug. "Thanks. You coming to bed?" she asked him. "You know it" he said as she dragged him away.

Christian was sleeping in Flora's arms the next morning when knocking at the door woke him up. "Christian, you are ordered to report to the arena for the first trial" Christian shifted into his cloths and opened the door. "Alright, give me a minute" he turned his head to see a awakened Flora. "What's going on?" she asked him. "I gotta go do the trials… any encouraging words?" she smirked and leaned close to his ear and whispered, "If you ever want even a kiss from me ever again, then your going to pass this" Christian stepped back, a look of horror on his mouth. "What- that's cruel!" she put her cloths on and smirked at him. "Well then, you better not fail" she said as she walked out. Christian walked up to the guard. "I have been assigned to escort you"

"Lead the way" Christian said as the walked out. All of his friends, minus Keith, was waving him goodbye. "Where's Keith?" Christian asked the guard. "He is at the arena. He is to brief you on the challenges that follow, now come" they spent ten minutes walking until he was shown an entrance inside the arena. He walked into what looked like a locker room, and was greeted by Keith. "Hey man, so what's going on?" he asked him. "What's going on is that you need to strip out of those. You can keep the sweatpants, but you need to have bandaged feet, and no upper clothing" Christian stepped back in shock. "What!? Why!?" he yelled at him. "It's a old tradition. You'll be hand-to-hand fighting the arms general, until one of you drop. Old tradition demands this attire. I'll wait outside" he stepped out of the room, and Christian just stood there, dumbstruck. "Man, how am I… wait! Idea!" tendrils swirled around his body as his shoes and socks were removed, replaced by bandages, and his shirt and hoody removed, a cyan cap placed on his head and his hair manipulated to fit inside it so no-one could see it, and he formed black sunglasses with blue lenses. He opened the door to see Keith waiting for him, leaning on a wall. "Hey, is this good?" he asked him. Keith sighed and held the bridge of his nose. "Why? I mean- yeah, it's good, but… why?" Christian shrugged. "Aw, come on, I'm not gonna give my looks up that easily…" he said as he and Keith walked down the hallway. "Now, Christian, you'll be fighting the arms general, like I said before. I trust you know the danger?"

"Uh huh"

"He's the strongest basitin, and one of the most skilled fighters. You may have killed a dragon, but his strength is equal to one"

"Yep"

"You'll need to be quick, and make sure not to be hit- at all!"

"A yurp"

"… and you should try shaking his hand and begging for him to throw the match"

"I will get right on that, Keith"

"Damnit, Christian! My citizenship depends on you winning! Pay attention!"

"Keith, no offense, but I know what I'm doing. The others in the stands?"

"We got front row seats"

"Good. Because today, I'ma teach you guys a lesson" Christian said as he walked out, leaving Keith to turn into a different hallway to join the others. It was sunny out, and every seat in the arena was packed with basitins. He saw his friends in the front row, and waved at them. "Hey, where did he get those? Flora, can't you just tell us what he looks like!?" Kat pleaded her. Flora smirked. "He made me promise never to say… and my lips are sealed" Christian heard many people in the crowd snicker at his extremely thin form as he saw the arms general exit the other side of the arena. "Hah! Look how skinny you are! You don't even have any muscle! How do you expect to defeat me?" he yelled at Christian from the other side of the arena. "You realize you still have a chance to run, right?" Christian asked him. The arms general laughed. "You can't harm me, whelp! My body is the perfect weapon I need to crush you!" he said, actually _kissing _his muscles. Christian burst out laughing. "HAHAHAH! Oh, man, you should hear yourself! "Oh, my body is the perfect weapon, mwah, mwah, mwah…" Man, that is funny as-Ack!" Christian yelled as the arms general pummeled him. He was so busy laughing he didn't notice him run over. A normal human would have been broken to pieces. Christian just had the wind knocked out of him as the general threw him to the middle of the arena. He chuckled as he lifted himself off of the ground. "Now, that was just rude. Now your gonna suffer" Christian said, causing the crowd to laugh. "Well, there goes my freedom…" Keith moaned. "Don't worry, he can win…" Flora said. The arms general laughed. "I'm going to enjoy breaking you!" he said as he sprinted towards Christian, a speed which even impressed him. The general threw a punch out, which landed on Christian, causing dust to fly everywhere. "Oh, no… wait!" Flora said as she saw the dust clear… to see Christian holding the fist of the general, having caught it in midair. "What!?" the general yelled, surprised at Christian's strength. "Now, I'm gonna give you one more chance- apologize for cutting my laugh off, and I'll go easy on you"

"Never!" the general said as he reared back. "Your choice…" Christian said as he watched the general throw a flurry of punches. Christian caught and swatted the fists away, not one ever touching him. The general was punching so fast no-one could keep track of the fists… which amazed everyone when they saw Christian deflect them all. "Wow, I underestimated him" Keith breathed. "Heh, told you" Flora smirked. After five minutes, the general stopped punching, exhausted. "How- how did you block all of my punches?" he weakly asked Christian. "You really should have apologized" Christian said, and in a blur, was upon him. He was so fast, it looked as if six of him were attacking the general. Three were throwing blurry punches, three were throwing blurry kicks, each blow causing the general massive pain. The audience were silent at this display. "Okay… now I think he's taking it a little to far…" Keith commented. Christian appeared in front of the general, kicking him in a blur of kicks with one foot. After five minutes of this his foot went straight up, propelling the general ion the air, and prompting Christian to punch him to keep him propelled in the air. He did a uppercut, causing the general to fly straight up. Christian channeled biomass into his legs, jumping hundreds of feet up, grabbing the general and taking him to the peak of his jump. "Oh boy, I've seen this before…" Natani said as he cracked the generals back over his neck, and pointed his head down as they fell, causing half of the general's body to go into the ground, and Christian walking up to him completely unharmed. He grabbed his foot, shouting, "And here endeth the lesson!" as he ripped his body out of the ground, throwing him to the other side of the arena into a wall. The general got up, stumbled three steps, and fell down, unconscious. "…And he broke our general" Keith whispered. The other two generals and a few guards were in a private box, disbelief written on all of their faces. "…He must have used magic… there's no way someone can be that strong…" the intelligence general-Alabaster- whispered. "Uh-uh. If he had used magic, we would have known… and seen it. That was his natural strength he used… and he also just passed the first trial" Alaric said. "This is impossible! No-one has ever passed the trials! We can't just let a _human _be the first to pass them!" Alabaster protested. "We have no choice- it's in the rules. I had better go and ready the men- we're up next" Alaric smirked as he walked out.

Christian was back in the locker room, being congratulated by his friends. "Christian, that was amazing!" Flora said. "You might just get me back in after all" Keith said. "So, do I get my kiss now?" Christian asked Flora. "Not until you pass all three trials…" she smirked. "Aw, man… hey Keith, can I put my hoody back on? I feel naked without it…" Christian asked him. "Yeah, the other trials don't require them, so go ahead" he said. Christian frowned when he saw that none of them were leaving. "Get out of here!" he yelled, pointing at the door. "Okay, sheesh…" Kat muttered as they all left. Christian shifted the glasses, bandages and hat off and reformed his socks, shoes, and shirt plus hoody. He walked outside to see Keith waiting for him. "Here" he said, tossing him a sword. "…Do I really have to use this?" he asked him. Ever since his encounter with Ephemural, he learned that he was too strong to wield normal swords… they usually broke he swung them so hard. "Well, everyone else will be using swords, so yeah" he explained. "Wait, I already have to do this? It's been five minutes!"

"Part of the trials is to not be exhausted. And remember, you still got one more after this"

"Ugh, you basitins and your expectations… you got any rope?"

"I think there's some in the locker room, why?" Christian walked back in and came out a minute later… with the sword tied to his wrist. "…Seriously?" Keith asked him. "What? I need practice with my blade… I mean, yeah, I'm using it like this" Christian said. "Ugh, fine, I'm gonna go join the others, you know where the entrance to the arena is" Keith muttered as they walked off. When Christian emerged on his side of the arena, he saw Alaric and twelve other basitins waiting for him on the other side… all armed with swords. "What the- seriously now, Christian? Instead of holding it your gonna just flail your wrist around?" Alaric asked him. "Yeah, the ancient fighting style of zandatsu… it's a old and respected style, lost in time and forgotten, and I might add, takes an entire lifetime to master… I did it in a year" Christian explained. _'Your making this up, aren't you?' _Jack asked him. _'Every word of it, but they don't need to know that' _Christian answered him. "Well, I'm impressed… but you should know these are my best men, hand picked… you don't stand much of a chance, despite your apparent strength" Alaric said. Christian pointed his sword at him. "Look, your Keith's friend, and you seem like a cool guy, so I'll go easy on you… the rest of your men's survival depends on the amount of blood they can lose" Alaric laughed. "You say you have all this skill, but I highly doubt you do. I mean, look, lemme ask you this: why are you doing this? Why are you risking your _life _to do these trials?"

"Because, Keith is my friend. I never told him this, but he saved my life. Well, more specifically, my friends life. And…" he looked away and held the blade to his face. "…The girl I love won't kiss me until I win this… plus I was bored" he said, re-pointing the blade at Alaric. "Are you serious? You're doing this because your bored? And for a kiss…? You really are insane, aren't you?" Alaric asked, forming a stance and readying his sword, his men doing the same. "Eh, what are ya gonna do? I wanna wipe that eternal grin off of your face" Christian said, sprinting toward Alaric. Said basitin was shocked for a moment, but quickly held his sword up, deflecting the blade Christian had as he brought it down. Christian lifted the sword and brought it down multiple times, so fast that it was a blur, and Alaric blocked or parried them all with ease, each blow making sparks fly off of the swords. _'Damn, he's faster than I thought, I underestimated him… guess this is why they call him a _master _general'_ Christian thought as their blades connected as they struggled to overcome the others blade. "Nice form, despite the location of your blade… you weren't kidding" Alaric grunted as the blades slid off of each other. Alaric looked at his men and nodded, signaling them to attack Christian. Said viral being smirked as he rushed the soldiers. They all tried to slash him with their swords, but he dodged or deflected them all. One soldier got lucky and hit the rope securing the sword to his wrist, letting it fall. he caught the blade using the underside of his foot, using small tendrils so no-one could spot them, and deflected and parried all of the soldiers attacks using the blade attached to his foot. He managed to knock a sword out of one's hand, and flipped to his hands, securing the sword to his other foot and breakdanced on his hands, the swords deflecting and cutting all of the soldiers. One of the swords got stuck in one of the soldiers, and he kicked the other in the air, flipping back on his feet and catching the sword. He saw they had him in a circle, despite being wounded, the one he stabbed ripping the sword out of him. He stabbed all of the soldiers rapidly in specific pressure points, making them all fall down in pain, some being paralyzed. Alaric looked in shock at seeing his best soldiers down… and Christian not having a scratch on him. "…Well, I can see you weren't exaggerating you skills…" Alaric said, still smirking slightly. "Okay, time to wipe that smug off…" Christian said, targeting three pressure points and rushing him, avoiding all of his swings and stabbing the points. Christian watched in sick glee as Alaric cried out in pain, and fell on the ground. He started walking away and saw Alaric getting up, a look of pain on his face. Christian chuckled. "You realize I just hit three pain pressure points? I'm surprised. Most people would have died of shock because of the pain. But I should have expected more from a basitin… you guys are unusually durable. But I warn you… there's still more spots I could hit, in fact your so weakened, I could finish you off right now without even hitting any. Your men are incapacitated. Face it: you've lost this. There's no way you could win" Alaric stumbled towards him and swung his sword sluggishly, Christian easily side-stepping it. "I'm sorry, would you like to practice first? You really are stubborn…" Christian said, stabbing a fourth point and causing Alaric to become paralyzed as he hit the ground. Christian stuck his sword into the ground and walked away towards the exit to the locker room to prepare for the final trial as basitin clerics rushed into the arena to heal Alaric and his men. When he entered the room, he found only Keith waiting for him, his arms crossed. "…What?" he asked Keith. "Everyone was kinda scared to see you. Do you know how fast you looked? I can't even explain how you did the thing with your feet… and you stabbing Alaric like that!"

"he'll be fine in a hour, it's not like I hit a organ or anything, he'll just be nauseous for awhile" Keith threw his hands up. "Alright, fine, look, for the final trial you'll be going against the intelligence general. Basically, there's this test: you're required to take it to become the intelligence general. It's said that each question is impossible to answer, they're so hard. The general knows the answer to all of them"

"How's that fair? Now I'm starting to see the impossible part…"

"Anyway, the speed at which you complete the test, the accuracy of your answers, and penmanship count…"

"My god, this is gonna be so boring…"

"You know the way to the arena" Keith finished, leaving. When Christian re-entered the arena for the last time, he saw Alabaster and the end of a table, a quill and ink pot at each end, with a forty-two page document at each end. Christian walked to the table and sat down at the other end. "Is this-do we really need a crowd to watch us do a test?" Christian asked the general. "Well, no-one has ever made it this far, so yes, it is necessary. Now get ready, I have memorized this test inside and out. You have virtually no chance of succeeding" the general said. A basitin walked up to the table, a black and white checkered flag in hand. _'Really…?' _Christian thought. The basitin brought the flag down and the general immediately began writing.. Christian rolled his eyes and picked the quill up, digging in his mind for the memories of others to help him with the test. Using his quick reflexes, he immediately set to work on the test, writing so fast that smoke came off of the pen. Four minutes and twenty seconds later, he had completed the test. "Yo, done! Oh, jeez!" Christian shouted, throwing away his now flaming pen. Five minutes later, the general was done. "finished. And I doubt that you finished that early" he said. The basitin from before walked up. "I'm the appraiser for the test. Please give me your documents and I will inspect them" a eager-looking Alabaster and a bored-and-annoyed-looking Christian handed him their tests, and he flipped through Alabaster's test first. "Uh-uh, hm, well, this is pretty good, doubt the human will fare better…" the appraiser mused until he saw Christian's test, and his eyes widened. "Well…?" Alabaster asked him. "It's… it's… it's completely correct with the best handwriting I've ever seen in my years as an appraiser!" he said, a giant smile on his face. _'Is this- is this really happening? Oh my god, this is so lame…' _Christian thought to himself. _'You should be proud of this accomplishment'_ Jack told him. _'What's to be proud of? Most of those writing skills and answers came from the people I consumed…' _Christian explained. "What!?" Alabaster shouted, grabbing the test and looking downhearted at it. "I-I can't believe this… all my years… by a human…" Christian walked over and patted him on the back. "It was a doomed cause from the start" the gate to one side of the arena opened, and guards flooded the battleground, guarding a very tall and armored basitin woman. "Who that?" he asked Alabaster. "…The…King…" he said glumly. "Whoa whoa whoa, wait, King? Aren't Kings male and… oh, forget it, it's impossible to argue with your race" he said as he turned to the King, and did a Chinese bow. _'What's with the Chinese bow?' _Jack asked him. _'Eh, one of the actual things I know and didn't rip from someone's mind was Chinese culture I studied at the mansion. Where do you think I got zandatsu from?' _Christian asked him as he looked up at the king. "Is that… standard tradition from where you come from?" the king asked him. "Eh, you could say that…" Christian answered her back. "Kneel" she ordered him. He rolled his eyes- not that anyone could see- and did so. "Now, then… normally, passing the trials meant you would have the honor for the ulti-general position, however, you are a human so normally this would be impossible… but, the master general has pointed out the trials were more of a test concerning the matter and case of the re-insertion of Keith Keiser into our society… and had pointed out multiple loop-holes in our laws… I am allowing the position to be filled by you until the ending of Keith's trial, so I her by decree…" she explained, taking a sword and tapping each of his shoulders with it. "Uh… what's your name?" she asked him. "Just call me Christian" he said. "From…?"

"That's confidential" the king shrugged and continued. "Well, then, Christian of… wherever you hail from, I pronounce you the temporary title of ulti-general. Wear it with pride" she finished as Christian rose from the ground. "Alright, cool… can I go now?" he asked her. "Of course, let me just order the guards to unblock the exits…" Christian held a hand up quickly. "No need, I'll find my own way out" he said as he scrunched his legs up and jumped, vaulting over the entire arena as he glided towards the tavern, the crowd looking in awe at him and his friends hurrying towards the tavern.

"Man, you did it! I'm back in for sure!" Keith said, patting Christian on the back as they were celebrating in the tavern. "I still don't understand how you answered that test so accurately…" Natani said. "Elementary, my dear Watson: for you see, uh… I'm really smart, alright" they all looked at him with a confused look. "Uh… Watson?" Eric asked him. "Ugh, forget it, anyway, Keith, in celebration, I've been thinking, and I think I have a little idea we can test" he held up some bandages while explaining his idea. "You see, me and Kat kinda have a disagreement over who gives better massages, so I'll I propose this: me and Kathrin will wrap our hands so you can't tell who has fur, and one of us will give you a massage one hour, the other the next. You won't know which one of us will be applying the massage until the end, though. So… what do you and Kat say?" he asked both pf them. Keith shrugged. "eh, why not? After what Flora's told me about your massages, I need to see them for myself" Kat clapped her hands. "Sure, it could be fun!" she said. "Then it's settled!" Christian said. He wrapped his and Kat's hands, and wrapped Keith's eyes so he couldn't see, and Flora helped him into another room and helped him onto the massage bed. She left and he heard the first person enter. He had to admit: whoever it was, they gave pretty relaxing massages. When it was done, the person walked out, and Keith took the bandages off, walking outside. "Wow… that was good. Who did that one?" he asked them. "We can't say 'till you tell us who was the best" Flora said. "Okay, fine…" Keith said. They all conversed for an hour, until Christian said it was time for Keith to go back in. the bandages were re-applied, and he waited on the bed until he heard the second person enter… and had the best feeling he had ever felt in his entire life. He sighed when it was done, and did the same thing he did last time, taking the bandages off and re-entering the room everyone else was in. "Okay…" he said. "I have to say… the second one. Definitely the second one" he said. Kat looked down and Christian threw his fist into the air. "Yes! Oh, yes, I knew it! In yo face, Kat! I give better massages! I give better massages!" he got an evil glare from Flora, and he stopped. "…Sorry" he muttered. "Wait, you gave the second one?" Keith asked him. "Yeah…" Kat said, downhearted. Christian put a arm around her. "Aw, cheer up, Kat! I'll admit it: if you could see pressure points like I could, you would probably give better massages… and we shouldn't let a trivial matter such as this come between our companionship…" he said. "Really?" she asked him. Christian smiled. "Really. Welp, it's been a long day of trials and proving I'm better than a bunch of basitins, hey Flora, do you want to turn in?" he asked her. "Sure thing" she said as they walked up the stairs, everyone else returning to their own rooms. Flora tugged on his sleeve while they were in the middle of the hallway. "So, Christian, since we're in this relationship, I was wondering… we don't keep secrets from each other, right?" she asked him. "Of course…" he answered cautiously. "Well, I was thinking… can you tell my why your… you know, just… this?" she said, gesturing to his whole body. Christian sighed. "Look, Flora, I don't know if your exactly ready for that yet…" Flora's face grew in anger. "Why? I just want to know a fact about you. Why don't you ever tell anyone anything about you? I'm practically the only one that knows your last name! and your whole, 'From another dimension' thing!"

"Look, I'm just doing what's best for our relationship! It would be torn apart if you knew about me!"

"It would not! I don't care what secrets you have! You know I trust you!"

"Than trust me when I say the decision I make about my secrets are the same. You can't know. I don't see why your so mad over this…" he saw tears grow in her eyes. "That's not the point, Christian! You don't know if I can handle it or not! But in case you've forgotten, before I met you I was a slave. I have spent the majority of my life having people make decisions for me" she grabbed the doorknob to their room and opened the door. "I worked very hard to escape from that life, and I took a big risk being with you. I am not your slave, Christian. You can't just decide what I can and can't know. And if you can't understand how something like that could hurt me, then maybe you're not as smart as I thought" she said, pointing accusingly as him and openly crying before running into the room and slamming the door behind her. Christian stood there for a moment, then banged his head on the door, cursing to himself before walking downstairs, looking out a window to see that it was raining again. "Man, she's right. I mean, what good am I? I'm a sociopath that's has blades for hands. I refuse to share my past with others, even her, and I always put her in the middle of danger. Kasura is proof of that… fine, I'll tell her… when she comes out… the truth… the whole truth…" a basitin guard walked up to him. "Christian" he said. "What?" Christian asked in a cold voice. "I am to inform you that you have been summoned by the master general"

"Tell Alaric to get lost, I'm busy" another guard walked up behind him. "No. we need you to come with us now"

"I'm not going out in the rain…" Christian said, before he heard a loud CRACK!, and turned around with a bemused look on his face. Realizing the guard attempted to knock him out with a wooden club. "Big mistake… you're catching me in a bad mood" Christian said… before ripping the basitin's arm off and beat his screaming body to death with it. He threw the arm away and turned around to kill the other guard… only to have a glowing blue sword plunged through him. He couldn't move, and realized it was a soul-snare, like the spear he was stabbed with when the templar took Flora. He fell on the ground, unmoving to see multiple pairs of basitin feet. "Oh, gods… that was brutal… let's put him in the cage so the templar can take him away. I'll be glad to see this thing gone" one of the basitins said.

Everyone in the tavern heard the screams. They all rushed outside and stared in horror as they saw basitin guards drag Christian's frozen body in a metal box. "What are you doing!?" Flora yelled at them. "We have orders to bring Christian into the templar: This does not concern you, keidran" one of the basitin guards said. The one dragging Christian's body hauled him in the box. "Alright, now to get my sword back" he said, ripping the sword out of his body and locking the door, the only source of light in the cage being a small window with three bars on the door. "You fool! Without the sword impaled in him, he can-" alabaster said, running up, but he was too late. A black and glowing blue tendricle shot out, wrapping around the basitin guard's neck, and flinging him around. "What is that?" Eric asked to himself. The tendricle retracted, squeezing the guard against the iron door. **"I'll kill you all!" **Christian shouted as the group saw metal claws pierce the door, grabbing the guard and pulling him into the cage. Everyone- even the basitins- watched in horror as they saw blood spray and gush out of the entrance, the basitin Christian was slaughtering screaming and soon gurgling. All was silent for a moment until they heard Christian speak in a cold voice, "So… Keith betrayed me. I'm gonna slaughter every basitin on this island…" They saw a huge metallic blade pierce the side of the cage, slicing around to the other side as he pushed the sides apart, looking normal put with a red hood shadow. The guards drew their swords and walked up to him. "So, Keith betrayed us? After all I've done for him? Fine, then… you all pay, then him" he said, before sprinting into the guards, ripping them apart with his bare hands. He was on his sixth guard when Alabaster ran up and rammed another soul-snare sword, and he fell on the ground, paralyzed. "Forget the cage! Just drag him back! And if anybody removes that sword, I'll kill them myself!" Keith ran up to Alabaster, anger written on his face. "What are you doing with him!?" he demanded. "Hmph. Just like you to defend this beast. Defending him while you should be carrying out your orders… considering how little time you have left"

"W-what are you talking about? I have time… I have until tomorrow-"

"Plans have changed. ever since my humiliation at the trials, and seeing how important yours is… I talked with the king, and had it moved up to tonight. You now have one hour to kill the wolf" a look of shock overcame Keith. "W-what!? One _hour_?" he asked in disbelief. "That's unfair!"

"No, you returning from banishment is what's _unfair_! It's a mockery of our laws, and our judicial system. You will do as you are ordered to do. You have **one hour**!" Alabaster yelled. Keith didn't say anything. He just glumly walked back to the group. "Keith, what are they doing to him!?" Flora asked him. "They're going to take him to the templar… there's nothing we can do…" he said as he watched tears stream down Flora's face. _'Oh, no… they're gonna take him away… the last thing he'll remember of me is me yelling at him…'_ Flora thought glumly. _'This is my fault… if Christian escapes, he knows… he'll kill me… I need to kill Natani…' _Keith thought, before lunging Natani with a knife he grabbed from one of Christian's victims. "Keith, what are you doing!?" Natani asked, dodging Keith. He elbowed her, knocking her down and pointed the knife at her while the others looked in shock. "This is your fault. All my life, all I've ever wanted was to come home. I wanted to be with my people… my friends… and I came so close… but now… I'm going to lose it all… _because of you_!" he said. "What!?" Natani yelled at him. "I thought I could just let myself do it… we basitins are biologically predispositioned to follow orders. The urge is… overpowering"

"What are you talking about?" Natani asked him. "It would have been the easy way… but I can't… I can't… I won't!" he yelled, pointing the blade at himself, attempting to kill himself. Natani acted fast, hitting him with an immobilizing spell while everyone else held him down. "You better start explaining. NOW" Flora hissed at him. "It… it doesn't even matter anymore. I've run out of time. I've failed… you're not a basitin. You… you wouldn't understand"

"Well, we're not letting go until you tell us what your talking about" Eric said.  
"Are you sure it's safe leaving him out in the open like this, Randal?" Alaric asked the templar architect, looking at Christian's frozen body on the platform connected to the tower. "Of course it is. The sword alone keeps him immobilized, and with the magic ward around the platform, he shouldn't be able to get out without being tossed around" he said as they gazed at the platform, a magic wind surrounding it as Christian laid paralyzed on the ground. They didn't notice his fingers slightly moving. _'Ugh… I'm getting feeling back… I think I'm getting used to this magic shit…'_ Christian thought. _'Wait, that doesn't make any sense, it's not biological…'_ Jack said. _'Who cares!? It's magic! Who can possibly scientifically explain this?! Look, I can move a little bit more and more… we'll get out… and murder them all…'_

The group were back in the tavern, Keith finished explaining. "…And that's about it" he finished. The group looked at him in shock. "Towers? Templar? Keith, we have to get Christian back!" Flora yelled. "How? They have an army of basitins" Eric stepped up. "Look, Keith, if we free him, we basically have ten army's. I understand why you did what you did, and I can forgive that, but there are more important matters on the line"

"H-hey guys… do you smell smoke?" Laura asked them. "Hey, yeah, I do…" Kat said. They all looked over there shoulders to see the tavern on fire.

"As reassuring as your tower is… I have heard many rumors of the destructive nature of Christian's power. You'll understand when I say I look forward to you templar leaving my island as soon as possible. No offense" Alaric said. "I understand. We shall depart as soon as the storms die down. Our ship is being prepared to contain Christian at this very moment. I am quite confident in my ability to contain Christian's power, if necessary. Your castle and people are in no danger. As the master architect, I can guarantee you: my technology is infallible"

'_I'd like to see him try to contain me… I'll rip his spine out… damnit, why does it have to rain on tonight of all nights, this hurts!' _Christian thought.

"All the exits are sealed off! What are we gonna do?" Eric asked, not noticing the fire on his head. "Let me concentrate, I've never done this many people before!" Natani said as a blue aura surrounded everyone. "Done what? Wait a minute! What are you doi-!" Flora asked as they were teleported out of the tavern. When they reappeared, Eric was the first to speak, fire still on top of his head. "Oh, we're back at my ship. Fascinating!"

"I set a waypoint on the ship in case anything happened on the island" Natani explained. "So what may I ask **did **happen back there?" Eric asked. "I think it's safe to say the guards were… tying up loose ends" Keith said. "Oh, that reminds me…" Flora said, before punching Keith. "How could you, Keith? I know you don't think very highly of keidran, but you were Christian's best friend! didn't our travels together mean anything to you?" Natani held her hand up. "Flora, please! What Keith did was wrong, but he's trying to make things right now!"

"Make things right!? He sold us out! Why are you defending him, he tried to kill you! How can you trust him after that?" Flora asked her. "I'm sorry… I didn't want any of this… I just wanted to go home" Keith said, tears in his eyes and blood dripping from his nose. Eric was thinking for a moment, until his eyes widened in realization. "Keith, I've seen what magic does to basitins. It's slowly rots there brain. I've seen a basitin that, after a few weeks of magic, could barley utter a sentence. They'll lobotomize themselves"

"The tower's a trap!?" Keith yelled. "Yes! Using magic will slowly drive your people insane"

"I knew it! I knew those templar were up to no good!"

"Keith! You have to warn them!" Laura said. "They won't listen to me! Until my trial, I'm still considered an outsider! Even if I do warn them, basitin bureaucracy will prevent them from doing anything about it until it's too late…"

"But we have to do something! And we still need to save Christian!" Flora said. "What can we do, though…?" Keith asked himself. "Keith! You said that the tower was incomplete, right? Was there any openings left in the outer wall?" Eric asked him. "Wha-? Well… yes. Last time I saw it, there was a hole still left in the side, why?"

"It's risky, but… Keith, if you can get us in there… I think I know how we can take down the tower and save Christian at the same time! Complete towers are very resilient to attack, because it's core is protected by a strong crystalline barrier. However, if the tower wall is still incomplete, the core will be exposed. With enough force, a strike to the core will begin a catastrophic chain-reaction, causing the crystals to release all their mana energy at the same time. This will take out the tower… and likely half the castle with it. That'll give us the distraction we'll need to escape. So, if- and this is a big if- we can get into the castle courtyard, we then grab Christian, assuming he doesn't try to kill everyone, snipe the tower, and run for our lives. Natani, you're our only magic user. Do you think you can hit the tower with a magicked arrow?" Eric asked her. "I don't know how I feel about saving a human, but he's better out of templar hands. I've only got one shot, but if you can get me up to it, I can take it out" she said. "A-actually, I-I can-" Laura began, but was cut off by Eric. "Alright, let me get a map…"

"O-oh, okay…"

"There are three bridges leading up to the castle. A central bridge, and two lesser bridges to the north and south. Reaching the bridges shouldn't be a problem. It's after curfew, and I don't hear any alarms going off. So they probably don't know we escaped the fire, yet. But getting across those bridges will be a lot harder without being detected. The castle side will be well defended" Eric explained as Kat put the fire on his head out. "You guys take the north and south bridges. They are out of the way and easier to cross. I will take the central bridge alone and draw their attention away" Keith volunteered. "Keith! No, you can't go by yourself!" Laura cried. "I have to… even if destroying the tower means saving my people, I will still be marked as a traitor for aiding you. I must face them alone, but at least I can serve as a distraction" Keith explained. Eric turned to Kathrin. "Kat, I want you to go get Mike and Evals and prep the ship"

"What? No! I'm coming with you!"

"Out of the question!"

"Why?"

"It's dangerous enough as it is, and the less people out there the better! Now do as I say and help prepare the ship! If you don't see a flash of light from the tower in an hour, I want you to leave" Eric said. Flora walked up to Keith. "Keith, before you go… I'm sorry for hitting you, even though I'm not sure if I trust you yet for what you did to Christian…"

"Well, it doesn't matter now. All that matters now is stopping the templar and getting Christian back. So let's get this over with. I'm going out now, you guys follow when the coast is clear" Keith said as he walked out.

Keith was walking the center bridge… when he saw Alaric in the way. "I'm sorry, Brother… this is the end"

Eric and Laura were walking through the streets, Eric having light made of mana in his hand. "I wonder where the generals are…" he wondered to himself.

Christian was writhing on the ground, screaming as the templar and Alabaster tried to contain him by strengthening the soul-snare enchantment on the sword. "Why is he moving!? He must be getting used to the spell! We have to keep him still!" Alabaster screamed. The arms general sighed. "I doubt they even need me… I should be guarding the bridge in case someone tries to attack… then again, who would? They died in the fire… right?" he asked himself.

"Look! There's the bridge!" Flora shouted as she and Natani crossed the bridge the arms general was supposed to be guarding.

Keith was finishing explaining the situation to Alaric. "so you see! The templar set you up! It's slowly driving you insane"

"…I see… I had my suspicions that the templar might have been trying something…"

"So now you see why I have to stop them! You have to let me through-"

"No!"

"What? I told you everything! The humans, the templar… you know now… Nick, you should be helping me…"

"You have no right to call me that, Keith! I'm not broken like you. I cannot disregard the laws that have built our society. It's for the courts to decide what should be done with the humans. As for me, I must do as ordered by the king- and my orders are to stop you and your friends here. I do what's commanded, even if I feel it's wrong. That is what it means to be a basitin"

"I won't back down, Alaric. I must do what I know is right… even if it means fighting the ones I'm trying to save"

"…Very well, Keith. **En garde**!" he shouted as he drew a sword, Keith's and Alaric's blades clashing. Alaric slashed down, slicing Keith's chest. He jumped in the air and brought his blade down, which Keith deflected, creating a crater under his feet. Alaric rapidly slashed him, creating more slashes on his chest, along with slicing his right ear halfway, and scratching his right eyelid. "Keith, it's over. Surrender before it's too late. I don't want to kill you"

"Then… don't… you have free will… you have a choice!"

"I have made my choice, Keith. I choose to stay on the path of righteousness… you chose the path of rebellion. There's no turning back now, brother"

"…I…I guess you're right, Alaric… we've… made our decisions… now we… erg… have to live with it!" Keith said, thrusting his sword into the ground and causing the bridge to crack and shake, causing a gap between Keith and Alaric… Keith being on the side of the bridge leading into the castle. "No, the castle… it was a trick! I'm standing on the section of the bridge I damaged…! If I keep backing up, I'll lose him! I won't let you get away!"

"Alaric, no!" Keith shouted as Alaric attempted to jump the gap. He landed at the edge of the other side. "…Hah! I can't believe I made that!" Alaric said… right before the edge he was standing on crumbled away, and he fell. "Alaric!" Keith shouted as he lunged for Alaric. He caught his arm as he dangled over the edge. "Keith?" Alaric asked him. "You… saved me. You've… decided to go back to our side!"

"No, I haven't! Don't you get it yet, Alaric? It's not about sides. Maybe I _have _been away from home for too long now, but I don't care about sides and politics anymore. I just don't want to see my friends hurt. Not Natani, not Christian, and not even you!"

"Me?… M-maybe you're right. Maybe… the laws can be… wrong? Keith!?" Alaric asked as the blood was making him slip. "I can't pull you up… I can't… hold on…" Alaric attempted to climb up Keith's sleeve. "Augh! Alaric, hurry… I can't hold on…"

"Just don't let go…! Keith, there's things I haven't told you… things I couldn't work up the nerve to tell you… everything I did was for you, Keith… even my eye… I wanted you to be proud of me" Alaric said… before the sleeve ripped, sending Alaric plummeting to his death. "Keith…!" he screamed as he fell. "No! **Alaric! **Nick…" Keith whispered as he saw his fading form hit the ground.

Natani and Flora were crossing the bridge when they ran into a small basitin guard girl. "Oh, wait. You're the wolf I talked to before. Remember me, from the other day? I guess… you are here to save the human, yes?"

"Erm… how would you know that?" Natani asked her. "I've been stalking you"

"Oh… what!?"

"Also, as a lieutenant, I know what's happening around the castle. I would like to help you"

"…Why?" Natani asked her. "I… have reasons. But I need a favor first. I'll look the other way… if you give Keith this note here" she said, giving Natani a heart-covered note and running off. "Wow, that was a close one, wasn't- Hey! Don't open that! It's not your!" Flora yelled at Natani upon seeing her opening the letter. "Hrmph… I can't read it anyway. It's all in what I assume is basitin… though with a… disturbing number of hearts drawn on it… well, she's gone now. Let's go" she said, tossing the note, which Flora caught. "Oh! Natani! You almost dropped the note! We don't want Keith to miss out reading this! He always seems unhappy, maybe settling down with a nice basitin girl will do him some good. Don't you think?" she asked her. "Oh, sure… that would be… _great_…" she muttered, before they ran into Eric, Laura, and… Kat. "Kat, where did you come from?" Flora asked her. "Oh, I wanted to make sure Eric was alright, so I caught up with him" Kat answered her. "Wait, where's Keith?" Natani asked. Laura gasped. "T-there he is! He looks hurt!" she said, seeing Keith's body next to the broken bridge. "K-Kei-!"

"**Keith**!" Natani said, rushing ahead and cradling his body. Natani saw the stares the others were giving him. "Er… oh, whatever. I'll deal with the gay rumors later. Keith, can you hear me?" Keith groaned. "Natani… I… I killed him… I've killed them all… my mom, my dad… my best friend… they're all dead… dead because of me"

"Don't talk like that. I remember what you said at the graveyard. It wasn't your fault…"

"Natani, is there anything you can do for him?" Flora asked her. "Even if I could spare the magic, healing wounds like this is beyond me. We don't have enough time anyway. I'll carry him" she said, picking him up. They were running towards the castle now. "That must be it! "The huge door!" Christian is on the other side!" Flora shouted. They opened the door and ran through. Christian was a mere fifteen feet away before they were stopped. "Halt! Don't move, villains!" they were immediately surrounded by basitin guards. "Ugh, the spell can hold him, I'll deal with you right now" Alabaster said, walking up to them. "You whelps have made a lot of trouble tonight. But now it's time for me to finish what I began at the tavern"

"And what exactly was that, general?" said a voice behind him. He whipped around to see the king standing behind him. "your majesty! I… thought you were still bed-ridden. You shouldn't be out here… in this rain-"

"I am not yet too weak to stand with my men when the time calls for it"

"Hey, it's king Adelaide" Eric said. "I've been hearing disturbing reports of your activities, general. Killing a fellow soldier… burning down a basitin tavern… manipulating a legal trial… what is making you act in such a way?" the King asked him. Eric stepped up. "Your Majesty! If I may… the general's judgment is being impaired by the magic. Basitin minds weren't meant to wield magical energy. It's been corrupting him, just as it will to all basitin-" Alabaster pointed his cane at him. "Lies! Nothing but lies! He's working with the keidran; trying to keep the magic to themselves! My mind has not been changed! My mind has never been clearer; my body never stronger!" the King mulled over herself, "I'm averse to taking the word of an intruder… but I cannot ignore this unnatural behavior. Until I learn more about what's going on, I want these intruders detained and taken to the cells" a look of shock overcame Alabaster. "What? No! They are too dangerous! We need to kill them now!"

"No, I said detained! That's an order! And I want you confined to your quarters as well. Is that clear, general?" she asked him. "I… yes… I mean, no… I can't… an order… I… can't… I… I… I'll kill them myself!" he said, using a spell to electrocute the group. **"AAAAAAAUGH!"** Flora screamed in pain.

Christian's hood shadow glowed red as he heard Flora scream. "Sir, he's moving!" a templar said. "Just continue holding him! It is imperative we take him back to the humans if we are to learn hi biological secrets" the architect said. "AHG!" Christian screamed… before grasping the sword binding him… and ripping it out… setting it besides him and rolling on his hands and knees. He looked to see a wounded Flora and company. "Flor…a…." he groaned. "Chr… Christian!" she gasped. Alabaster walked up to him. "So, your finally awake… murderer"

"What did you call me…?" Christian asked the general. "You heard me: a murderer. A monster. A killing machine. What you did at Kasura is evidence enough for that. You thought the templar would forget that massacre? They didn't. it ends now" he said. Christian chuckled. "You know what?… you're right. I am a murderer. I thought… after Kasura… I could leave killing behind, live happily with Flora… I was even gonna tell her the truth about me… before you kidnapped me. I thought I could just walk away from it all… but who am I kidding? I was born to kill!" Christian said, slamming the platform with a fist, creating a small crater. "So you admit it? That you're a killer?" Alabaster asked him. "Heh, yeah, I guess. Lemme tell you, though, All of this: the kidnapping, you hurting Flora… all of this, is a wake-up call, to what I really believe… what I really am…"

"What are you saying…?"

"I'm saying… Jack. Is. Back" Christian said, his hood shadow glowing more red as he rose to his feet and ripped the shackles holding his wrists off. "Do it!" the architect said, prompting a templar to ram Christian with another soul-snare sword. "No!" Christian shouted as the blade was rammed through him. He looked at the blade… and laughed sickly, causing the templar to back up in fear as he ripped the blade out of him. "You think that trick will work on me anymore!? This is my normal… my nature… you humans are all the same: arrogant and ignorant in your quest for power" the architect- Randal- laughed. "Easy for you to say! You already obtained the power we seek" Christian looked at his hands as he let tendrils swirl around them, causing Flora to gasp. "I didn't ask for this power. It caused me to lose my family, and my humanity. I'd give this power up to have them back. But their gone. Erased, along with the rest of my dimension when that damn mask brought me here. I don't like what I am: but I am forced to live with it, to live with the lies… just to be excepted by my friends. I'm done with it. I'm gonna kill you all… starting with you, Alabaster…" Christian said. Alabaster nodded his head to a soldier, and the soldier ran forward, sliding on the ground to reach the first soul-snare blade. Christian impaled his hand with the second sword. Two templar rushed him, and he picked the first sword up with his foot, impaling one, then ripped the sword back out, and cut the templar in two. He then stepped on the blade that impaled the soldiers hand, and sliced his arm off, then his body in half, impaling the top half with his sword, and kicking the other half towards Alabaster. _'Are you sure you wish to do this?'_ Jack asked him. _'Yes. No more lies. I'm revealing myself' _Christian thought back… before turning his arm into a blade and pointing it at the soldiers. "Who's next?" he asked them. Flora screamed and crawled towards her friends. _'The dream… I remember that blade… it's real…?'_ she thought. "My, gods… he's not even human… what is he…?" Natani asked herself. "So, no-one…? Wise choice. Now, I have to ask, what did you plan on doing to me? Studying me so you could apply my powers to templar soldiers? Well, that… I CANNOT ALLOW!" he yelled. "You've lost you're mind…" Alabaster said. "Now you're just being nasty…" Christian said, before laughing sickly again, but more rapidly. "Ya know that cute nick-name the templar gave me? Jack the Ripper? Wanna know how I got it? Actually, why don't I give you a demonstration? I think it's time for Jack…. To let 'er rip!" Christian said… before twelve tendricles shot out of him… four impaling the ground and lifting him… the other eight wrapping around the arms general. "Hey, put me down!" he said as the tendricles tossed him around and played with him. "My Father was mad… I guess it runs in the family…" Christian said as the tendricles tore the arms general limb from limb, tossing the twenty severed pieces of his body to the ground. The tendricles than wrapped around a screaming Alabaster. "Speaking of which, my Father was very… interested in the study of preservation of the human body. His life was consumed by his research, it's what tore our family apart, but he was very… astute with his teachings to me, taught me everything he knew… why don't I give you a demonstration of that, as well?" Christian asked Alabaster as the tendricles ripped him apart slowly, taking out one organ at a time, ending with the heart as he bled to death and he consumed the remains. The tendricles then attacked the rest of the basitin soldiers: ripping and maiming. Two grabbed a soldiers legs and ripped him in two. Another wrapped around one while another pierced him. One even plunged a soldiers throat. All the soldiers were dying at Christian's tendricles. "Defend the king!" a soldier said… before a tendricle shot into his groin, pulling his spine and skull out of it, then hacking the body in half. "Natani, we have to stop him! The tower will probably distract him!" Eric said. "Erg, I see the vulnerability… fat lot of good it does us, though. We've only got one shot and no opening" the king looked at Natani. "Keidran, are you saying the tower's causing this madness, and you can stop it?"

"Yes, I could…"

"Very well! I'll give you your opening!" the king said, rushing Christian with a sword. Christian turned one of his tendricles into a scythe and blocked her sword. "You realize it's one sword against fourteen?" Christian asked her. While he was fighting her, the other tendricles were thrashing around, smashing everything- including the tower, making debris fall. "It's working… the debris is falling! Natani, you need to take the shot!" Eric yelled. "I know, just a moment… you'd better be right about this, human! Alright, arrow, I've given you everything I've got… now… just… hit it!" Natani said, firing a glowing arrow from a bow she picked up. The arrow flew up to the hole exposing the core… and hit the edge of the hold, missing. "No! That was our only shot… what do we do now?" Natani asked herself. "Natani, I t-think you have another chance. You… you might be able to use my locket as a s-source of mana" Laura said, holding a locket up from her neck. "What? Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"I-I'm sorry… it's… very important to me. I… I was hoping you wouldn't have to use it" Laura said, giving her the locket. "Well, with the way things are going now, this won't do us much good, anyway. There are still some soldiers alive blocking my shot! Got anything else that might- Laura?… where did she go?" Natani asked upon seeing Laura vanish. She looked ahead to see her running towards the soldiers. "Laura! What is she doing!?"

'If I can take their attention away… just a few seconds… please, don't let it hurt…' Laura thought as the surviving soldiers got ready to shoot arrows at her. The king ran up to Christian, and he blocked her sword with his blade. He heard Natani yell and looked over his shoulder to see soldiers getting ready to fire arrows. "Watch out!" he yelled, shielding her from the arrows using his tendricles. "What the hell are you thinking!? Get out of there!" Christian yelled at her. He wrapped a tendricle around her waist and lifted her up, gently setting her down next to the group. He shook his head, his hood shadow going black, the madness receding. "Ugh, what am I doing killing them!? I don't have time for this!" Christian said, wrapping a tendricle around the king and throwing her away, then receded the tendricles and ran over to the others. "Look, I'll explain later, what's going on!?" he asked them. "It's the tower! It's driving the basitins insane!" Eric said. Christian pointed his blade at the hole in the tower. "Wait, I heard you guys mention… if I stab the core, will it explode?" he asked them. "Yes, if you can pierce it, b-but you'll be at the center of the blast! You'll disintegrate!" Natani said. Flora ran over and hugged him. "Christian, I don't know what you are, but you can't do that! I don't want to lose you!" Christian sighed. "I know… which is why I'm sorry for doing this…" he said, jabbing a spot on her spine and paralyzing her, and giving her to Eric. "Look, guys… I should have died at that mansion. Through unnatural means, I'm alive. I know it's most likely a one-way trip. And I'm ready… Flora, I know you can hear me, and I'm sorry… for everything… the secrets, paralyzing you… and probably dying. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you the truth… any of you the truth… but, it's been fun, guys. Crazy adventure and all that… I'm not good with goodbyes, so… yeah. Seeya…" Christian said, turning to look at the tower. "Alright, let's do this" he looked over his shoulder to see Flora still frozen in Eric's arms… and saw tears flowing down her face. "You don't have to do this! We can-"

"No. I'm doing this… get out of here!" he yelled, jumping up to the core. He readied his blade, ramming it through the giant blue crystal. He looked over his shoulder to see that a basitin soldier shot Laura with an arrow, and was on the ground, alive, but too close to the tower. "Damnit, Laura!" Christian yelled, a tendricle in the form of a shield shooting out of his back and protecting her as the tower blew up, sending a pillar of blue light up as the tower exploded, sending fire and smoke all over the castle.

** A/N- Yeah, I know, short chapter, but the suspense of ending it here was too good to pass up. Also, yeah, I might have, maybe, possibly, most likely used A LOT of quotes from metal gear rising: Revengeance, and Darkness 2 executions… but they were too good to pass up, as well. And now, the bad news: Unfortunately, we're coming to the point where the comic Tom is writing is, and I don't want to do anything non-cannon, so… progress will be severely halted until he draws more. I might be able to squeeze on more chapter out, but until then… it's gonna be a long while 'till another chapter. But don't worry! I've got ideas for other probably non-original crossovers I've been meaning to write… plus I need that wall with all the ideas written on it for other stuff. So… don't hate me… please… basically, either another chapter or new story coming soon, yadda yadda yadda, not the end, just gonna be really slow, see you all later!**


	6. Chapter 6

**ANOMALY**

**Episode 6- Origins**

Flora awoke from the explosion in a hospital bed. "Ow… my head… where am I…?" a basitin woman in a cleric's uniform and wrappings over her eyes walked up. "Your in the clinic. They brought you in after the explosion"

"What's with the eye-things?" Flora asked her. "Oh, they're to prevent temptation, and so we don't see others without clothing"

"Oh, well… can I leave? I need to make sure…"

"Absolutely not. You are not allowed to go into others rooms" Flora rose from the bed. "Please, I have to find Christian!"

"Miss, I'm sorry. As I said before, we can't allow you to go into other patient's rooms"

"But you don't understand! I don't even know if he's alive! I don't know if any of my friends are okay! Please…" the cleric sighed. "Well… there are laws that make exceptions for family or couples… and there is only one room with a human in it, it must be his… but I don't know if they'd allow a keidran to… Alright! I'll talk to the others and see what I can do. But I need to make sure you and the little one are all healthy first"

"Mew? "Little one?" who is that?" Flora asked her. "Well, your baby, of course!"

"Baby? Where? I don't have a baby"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you knew. I discovered you were pregnant while I was checking you" a look of shock overcame Flora. "P-pregnant!? Hey, you must have the wrong person! I'm not pregnant! It wouldn't be possible, I've only been with Christian"

"No, I am certain I can hear a second heartbeat within you. But you're right, it's impossible with a human… well… I suppose it's not surprising that you don't know the father. From what I've heard about the keidran…it was probably some random keidran you met along your travels…" Flora lunged at the cleric. "What are you implying!?" she hissed at her. "Ack! Mood swings! Look, I'll take you to him, you can sort it out with him, just don't throttle me!" the basitin begged. "Okay, fine…" Flora said hotly as the basitin lead her through the halls. _'Could what the basitin said be true? Am I really…? What would Christian say if I am? Would he think I had…?' _Flora was thinking to herself, before the basitin interrupted her. "In here is the room of the human. Please be brief" Flora reached for the doorknob. _'No, the basitin must be wrong! I can't be pregnant. It's impossible. Keidran and humans have lived together for centuries. It would have happened before if it could have… she must have just been confused by my keidran anatomy…'_ Flora thought before opening the door. "Christian? Are you alright?" Flora asked, but her eyes widened when she saw Eric painting a naked female basitin cleric. "Hello, Flora! Christian isn't here, but you're welcome to stay!" Flora looked shocked. "But if Christian isn't here… where is he!?"

In a far off cave, the burnt remains of a severed human hand laid smoking. A crow flew to it and pecked it… causing the hand to grab it's neck and snap it, black tendrils consuming the crow. After a few minutes, the complete and blue-clothed form of Christian regenerated from the hand. "Ugh… that always sucks… the last thing I remember was the blast… where am I…?" Christian asked himself, upon seeing he was in a cave. He looked behind him to see Lady Nora laying on her side. _"Ah. You're awake" _she telepathically said to him. _'Nora…? What are you doing here?' _Christian though-asked her. _"The basitins… are going to want someone to blame… I had… had to take you away or they would have killed you… then again, all that was left of you was a hand, so I took you here, hoping you could regenerate like you did before. I see I was right. And I would prefer if you just talk normally" _she said. "Alright, fine, what about the others? What about Flora?" Christian asked her. _"Sorry, Christian. I could only make… one trip… rrrhg…"_

"Are you okay…?"

"_Christian… when the tower exploded, it drained and consumed all the magic on the island. Unfortunately, we dragons are creatures of magic. It fed on my life while I was looking for you. It took most of my strength to find you and carry you back. Now that I'm sure you're okay, I must sleep… for a very long time" _Christian walked to the edge of the cave… to see they were on top of a mountain. "The others are probably hurt, or in trouble… or both! I gotta find 'em… alright, I can make that jump"

"_Christian… I know you want to help them, but… maybe you could stay here for awhile? At least until I fall asleep… it would be safe here, and… I'd feel better if I wasn't going into this long sleep alone…"_

"Yeah, look, Nora, I would love too, but… wait, what's that…?" Christian asked, seeing a tuft of orange fur behind Nora. He ran over to it to see an unconscious Laura. "What the- Laura!? What are you doing here?" Nor spoke up from behind him. _"She was wrapped in a few of your tentacle things, but I don't know why. Maybe you tried to save her. It's too late though. I took care of her external wounds, but internally, she is slowly bleeding to death" _Christian activated viral sonar and looked at her. "My god… she… so many of her organs are being pierced by her ribs… no-one could possibly fix this… you right, she'll die…" Christian carefully put his arms around her, picking her up. "I'll take her to Keith… he deserves a final goodbye from her"

"_You realize that if you take her back to the basitins, they'll try to kill you?" _Nora asked him. "Pfft, I'd like to see them try. Besides, it was my slaughter that caught her in the explosion… and she tried to risk her own life. Least I can do… seeya, Nora" Christian said, before leaping out of the cave mouth, gliding towards the city.

Christian landed on a beach, near the city port with guards running up to him. One drew a sword. "I don't have time for this!" Christian yelled, turning his arm into a blade and slicing all of their swords in half, and held the blade to one's throat. "Keith Keiser. Get him, or I kill and consume everyone here. And don't keep Jack the Ripper waiting…" Christian said, lowering the blade and allowing the basitin to run for his life.

"You're highness, I must protest! The slaver I can understand, and maybe even the keidran spy, but releasing that… that monster!? I read the reports! About what he did to my father, to the soldiers! He's a butcher! He personally wounded you! He cannot be allowed to go unpunished!"

"Enough, general. Keith Keiser explained that the… thing was just as manipulated as we were. I saw the chains, and heard the words he spoke. He was a man trying to defend his friends. Now let it go"

"Ngh…"

Keith was walking away from the court, still hearing the argument between the King and the new general, who happened to be the son of the late general Alabaster. At the trial, through documents signed by the late Alaric, who foresaw this event, he had been promoted to being an ambassador to represent their species. He had to admit, he was still surprised by the news. He was still upset about the death of Laura, and by the fact they didn't find a trace of Christian, who was most likely disintegrated, was likely dead to. These thoughts were erased when a scared-looking basitin guard ran up to him. "Sir!" Keith turned his head. "Huh, me?" he asked him. "I- we… we found that insane human… the blue killer… who threatened to eat us and sliced our swords with one growing out of his arm… and wanted me to find you… what do we do?" the guard asked him. "Christian? Yeah, that's him… so he did survive. Just escort him to the ship. He has a lot of explaining to do"

"Yes, sir. Shall we do the same for the vixen he is carrying?"

"What!?" Keith asked in surprise.

"Go ahead! Try to stand in my way! I'll rip you all apart!" Christian yelled, holding a basitin in the air via a tendricle wrapped around his throat. "**Laura**!" Christian raised his head to see Keith running towards them. "K-Keith?" Laura asked weakly. She struggled out of Christian's arms and into Keith's as he ran up. "K-Keith! Ngh!" she shouted, falling over and forcing Keith to catch her. "Laura! Are you alright? What's wrong with her?" Keith asked. Christian put a hand on his shoulder, dropping the basitin and retracting the tendricle. "It's not good. The explosion from the tower ruptured several of her organs… Keith, no matter what, she'll die… there… is something I could try, but…"

"Do it!" Keith yelled. Christian turned his finger into a small viral syringe, injecting Laura with a small dose of his virus, taking her genetics and memories from her blood in return. "Keith, I'm giving her a small dose of my virus, but keidran weren't in mind when it was created. The fact her body won't immediately reject it is a miracle. It'll heal her, but… I can only by her a minute at best. I would… say your goodbyes…" Christian said, withdrawing his finger and turning it back to normal. Laura cringed in pain, than relaxed. "Keith… you're hurt…" Laura said upon seeing bandages all over Keith. "I'm fine, Laura. And so are you. Christian fixed you, I know he could. You just have to hold on" Keith said, tears in his eyes. "Keith… I never said she would live… she's gonna die, there's nothing we can do-"

"Don't say that!" Keith yelled at him. "Keith, don't be mad at him… he was only trying to help… I'm glad… you're okay, I was worried… I'm so happy to be with you again… I feel like I can finally… rest… Keith… I've always loved you…" Laura said, closing her eyes and going limp. "…Laura? No… Laura, you're fine. You're fine! Everything's okay now… we can finally be happy… please… I'm sorry… I'm sorry I asked for more time. I shouldn't have waited. But we can still go back… to the way things were… when you wake up, we'll be together again…" Keith sobbed, cradling her body. _'Poor, deluded fool… blinded by love… the most potent of distractions…' _Jack cooed. _'Jack, the man's mourning. Give it a rest' _Christian snapped. "Uh, look, Keith, for whatever it's worth… I'm sorry. I shielded her from the blast, and healed her as best as possible… I gave her the time to say goodbye. If you want to talk about it, I'll be on the ship… I need to explain to the others…" Christian said, walking off, too depressed to jump, the guards moving out of his way.

Christian was walking on the docks now, mulling over himself. _'Aw, man… now I'm gonna have to explain to the others what I am… damnit, I was hoping for more time… I shouldn't say that… what with Keith and Laura… no, it's time… I need to do this…'_ Christian thought. He heard a gasp above him. "Christian!"

"Eh…?" he looked to see Flora's shadow on the dock… then looked up as she pounced him, jumping from the boat, yelling "CRRISSTTTIAAAANN!" as she pinned him to the dock, cracking it. "You're _alive_! _You're alive_! I knew those guys were hiding you somewhere! I'm so happy you're okay!"

"Hiding me somewhere? What are you talking about? That blast disintegrated me. It took awhile to regenerate"

"Wait, so… you really did die?" she asked him, shocked. "Uh… only for a little bit…" Christian said, smiling weakly and saw tears in Flora's eyes as he got up. "I'm sorry if I scared you…" Christian said as she wiped her eyes. "Oh, it's nothing, nothing… I don't know why I'm crying, I'm just… relieved. I knew you'd be alright, but… a part of me…" she wrapped him in a back-breaking hug, digging her claws in his back. "Ah, Christian! I was so afraid I'd never see you again! I couldn't stand thinking our last time together would be during an argument!"

"And… my back's broke. Eh, I'll just grow it back…" she let go of him and gave him a dead-pan look. "…I'm gonna have to explain what I am, aren't I…?" he asked her. "What do you think!? You had a blade jutting out of you arm and tentacles shooting out of your back!" she yelled at him. "Ugh, fine… look, I'm gonna wait for Keith to get back, I found Laura… it wasn't pretty. I'm gonna go get some 'za" Christian said, running off. "How is pizza gonna help!?" Flora yelled at him. "It will! Trust me! Plus I need to get other stuff before we leave!" Christian yelled back. He ran to the general market, and walked in. "Hey uh, can I get some…" he was hit over the head with a broom as a basitin saleswoman hid behind the counter. "Get away from here, vial demon! I know what you are!" she yelled at him. "Ugh… look, I'm not here to eat you… I just want to buy some stuff…" Christian said. "Y-y-your not here to… eat me…?" she asked him. "Ugh, can I just get the ingredients I want?" he asked her calmly.

After hours of acquiring different ingredients from different shops from projects he wanted to try, Christian was walking back to the ship now, pulling two carts along with him. He walked up the ramp and went to the cargo hold of the ship, squeezing the carts in. when he walked into the cargo hold, he saw crates of supplies… and a very angry bunch of friends. "Where'd you get all that stuff?" Eric asked him. "Bought it with the money I drained from templar accounts. I couldn't find any pizza, so I'm gonna have to make it" Kat crossed her arms. "Oh, really? And will you be eating any of it?" Christian set the carts down, and looked at her with a nervous smile. "Of course not, you know I don't eat-" Natani walked up to him. "And why would that be, Christian? Or is it Jack?" she asked him. "Uh… bothish…?" he asked her weakly. "We want answers, Christian" Flora said bluntly. Christian sighed deeply. "Fine… fine. I was going to tell you guys, I really was, I was just waiting for a good time-"

"I think now's a good time" Keith said. Christian nodded. "Okay, fine… the truth… all of it… and to show I'm not lying…" he reached up to his hood… and pulled it down, revealing his face. Everyone gasped. "…Wow…" Kat gasped. _'That face… is really good-looking…' _

"So there is a man under that hood…" Keith remarked. Everyone else, barring Flora, just stood silent. "So… nothing held back. What do you want to know?" Christian asked them, gazing with his blue eyes. "Okay, what's your real name?" Natani asked him. "You already know it, that wasn't a lie, it's Christian… Drevis" he said quickly upon seeing their stares. "Okay… are you human?" Eric asked him. Christian sighed and crossed his arms, leaning up against the wall. "Look, I'd rather not go into details about my past life, so I'll say this-"

"I thought you said nothing held back" Natani snapped. "Oh, really, Natani? You want to go there? You really want to? Hey, while we're at it, why don't I explain your past, and that little secret of yours…" Christian said, smirking. Natani waved her hands in defense. "No-no-no, that's okay! Uh, continue…"

"Aaaanywaaay, my Father was a mad scientist… who invented a virus. And used it on me" Flora gasped. "Your own father… used you as a test subject…?" she asked him. "Yeah, I guess you could say it like that. Anyway, Flora already knows this, but I'm not from here. When I say "from here", I mean this world. Neutral, the mask thing, saw me in my own world, and used some kind of whack-spell, which brought me here. What Flora doesn't know… is that the spell destroyed my old dimension. Erased it" Eric raised a hand. "So… I get all of that, but what was with the… tentacle thing…?" Christian chuckled. "Thank dear old Dad for that. The virus changed me- drastically" he let tendrils swirl around his body, shocking Mike and Flora. "I'm not human… well, not anymore. I was. I'm… a viral being. I… kill things, and consume them, breaking them down to their genetic matter and absorbing them, taking their biomass, which I use to form my weapons, and to heal any and all injuries, from scratched to entire limbs, a new body if need-be. I also absorb their genes and memories, which I can use to shape-shift into the people I consume, and also manipulate the genes to make any form what I want, essentially turning into a perfect copy of whoever I consume. There's also my viral sonar, super strength and speed, the fact that water is like acid to me, yadda yadda yadda, basically, I'm pretty much nigh-invincible. There might be some other stuff I'm forgetting at the moment, and if I remember them, I'll explain them later. Any questions?" he asked them. Most of them had confused looks on their faces, not understanding most of what he said. Keith did though. "So you… eat people?" he said. Christian sighed and held the bridge of his nose. "In laymen's terms, yes…" he said. Confused looks turned back to anger. "So, all this time, you've been lying to us?" Flora asked him. "Flora, you know I only lied to-"

"No, I think she's right. You should have told us" Eric said. "I didn't want you guys…"

"We don't want to hear it" Keith said, walking up the stairs out of the cargo hold. "Keith…" Eric shoved passed him and walked up, along with Kat trailing behind. "Eric… Kat…" Natani walked up, was about to say something, but closed her mouth and walked up. "Nat…" Flora walked up to him. "You know, I always thought you were lying to protect me. Now I just see you were doing it to spite me" she said before walking out. Christian looked over at Mike and Evals. "Get out of here!" he yelled at him, eyes glowing red as tendricles flailed around him. They nodded quickly and ran out. Christian sighed, turning back to normal, and sat down on a barrel, head in his hands. "Well, I told them… and they hate me for it. I didn't want this… I thought they would understand… but they don't… ugh, I'm gonna go try and talk with Flora…" Christian said, getting up, not noticing a pair of sympathetic eyes looking at him as he left from the shadows.

"Flora, open up…" Christian asked, knocking on the door for the tenth time. They were at sea now, sailing away from the basidian islands… and no-one wanted to talk to him. At all. He knocked on the door again. "Flora, I said I was sorry, if you just let me explain…" no response. He activated viral sonar to see if she was actually in there. He saw her curled up on the bed, quietly sobbing. "Flora, I see you in there… aw, forget it…" Christian said, turning his viral sonar off and walking away. He saw Kat coming from the laundry room, but she spotted him, and ran back in. "Really, Kat…?" Christian muttered, walking away. _'Man, this is depressing… they all hate me… even Flora…' _Christian thought glumly. _'We don't need them… they are weak…' _Jack said. Christian didn't respond as he walked up to the deck of the ship… to see Mike's retreating form. "Figures…" he muttered as he stared at the see, leaning on the edge of the boat. _'You know, it's funny… I've always hated water… it seems… compelling, almost…'_

'_What are you thinking…?' _Jack asked him.

Keith was moping in his room, eye patch over his bad eye, when he looked out of his window to see Christian standing near the edge of the boat. _'He wouldn't… better go make sure, he's been down ever since he told us his secret…'_ Keith thought as he ran out.

Christian looked over the edge of the boat into the water… and felt the boat rock violently, causing him to lose his footing and trip over the edge. _'Damn…!… I… don't really care that much… maybe they'll be better off…' _Christian thought… before Keith grabbed his hood and yanked him back on board. "Ow! Keith, that hurt…" Keith smacked him across the face. "I don't care! What's going through your mind, jumping over the edge like that!?" Keith yelled at him. "I didn't jump! The boat shook and I fell over"

"But you were thinking about it, weren't you?" Christian sighed. "Yeah… I guess I was… can we talk inside?" Christian asked him. Keith nodded as they walked to his room. When they entered it, they both sat down on the bed. "I guess that's two I owe you…" Christian said. "Hey, you mentioned that at the arena… since when did I save your life?" Keith asked him. "Remember the day we met Natani? When you gave me that crow? Well, after she melted me, the biomass from the crow I ate sped up my regeneration just in time. You see, if you hadn't given it to me, I wouldn't have healed just in time, and the dragon would have toasted you guys" Christian explained. "Ah. So… why are you like this?" Keith asked him. Christian sighed. "Well, you guys are pretty mad at me… and you're all avoiding me"

"Well, you're the one that was keeping the secrets"

"Because I thought you wouldn't like me! Look, on the day we met, if I said, "Oh by the way, I'm a virus" you would have left me immediately"

"True…"

"Plus, I do love Flora. I didn't know how she would react to me if she knew. Disgusted, afraid, scared… I wanted to wait for the right time. And now… she just thinks I was lying because I wanted to. It's not like that. I just wanted to seem normal… I hate what I am. Do you think I like being an unstoppable killing machine? Sure, it's useful for when someone tries to kill us, but beyond that… I lied to protect her… to protect me. I just wanted to be with her… and was afraid she wouldn't want to be with me if I told her…"

"I see…" Keith said after a long moment of silence. _'So… he didn't lie to us out of spite… he just wanted to be with us… I misjudged him…' _Keith thought, before saying, "Look, what you did was wrong…. But I understand you're motive. So, I forgive you" Keith said. "That's probably the best I'm going to get out of you… look, can you talk to Flora for me? She won't even open the door…"

"Yeah, sure…" Keith said, getting up to leave. "Thanks…" Christian said weakly as Keith walked out.

Flora was lying on the bed when she heard another knock on the door. "Leave me alone, Christian!" she yelled at it. "Uh… it's me, Keith" Keith said from the other side of the door. "Oh… sorry…" she said, walking up to the door and opening it, letting Keith in. "What do you want?" she asked him. "Look, I wanted to talk about Christian-"

"I don't wanna" Flora said, turning around. "Look, he's a mess, and he feels really bad-"

"I don't care Keith"

"…He almost jumped in the ocean" Flora immediately whipped around. "…W-what…?" she asked, shocked. "You heard me. He's been so depressed everyone's avoiding him like this that he almost killed himself. You've all been shunning him, and it's killing him" Keith said bluntly. "Why would he… I mean, it's his… he lied to us…" Flora said weakly. "He explained why. The only reason he lied is because he wanted to be with you. The guy practically hates the fact he's a virus. He didn't want you to be afraid of him… but despite all of that, he still loves you" Flora's eyes widened in realization, and remembered something Euchre said to her long ago, before he left them: _"Flora, remember what I've always told you. I'm sure you'll do fine. I trust Christian… but you must be careful. He pretends to be what he is not… but it's for your sake. I don't think he likes what he is, and he tries to hide it from everyone. You will not like him if you ever see what he really is. I pray that you do not"_

'_All this time he was trying to act normal… just to be with me… was trying to be what he isn't… like what I was doing when I first met him… trying to be human…' _Flora thought. "So… will you talk to him now?" Keith asked her. "Yeah… I think I'd better… can you explain to everyone else and have them meet us in the mess hall?" Flora asked him. "Sure thing" he answered as Flora ran out.

Christian was done moping now, and was trying on a new style. He had grown tired of the hoody, and didn't want to keep his appearance a secret any longer. After awhile, of gene manipulating and tendrils changing his cloths, he settled with no socks and aqua slippers, fuzzy blue pajama pants, and discarding the hoody, just having the plain cyan V-neck he always had. He heard a knock at the door. "Christian… it's Flora. Can you let me in?" Christian sighed and walked to the door. "It's Keith's room, not like I have the right to lock you out anyway…" Christian mumbled as he opened the door. Flora raised an eyebrow upon seeing the new cloths. "Trying on new looks?… I like this better" she said with a weak smile. Christian chuckled dryly. "Thanks. What do you want?" he asked her. Flora sighed. "Look, Christian… I'm sorry. Keith told me the reason why you lied. And… I guess I can't blame you…"

"You don't…?" Christian asked her, his turn to raise a eyebrow. "No… if it were me, I would have done the same thing… you only lied to be with me, so… I forgive you" she explained. Christian smiled weakly… and sprinted over, hugging her. "Thanks, Flora…" he said. She patted him on the back. "Hey, sure thing… now come on, Keith's got the others in the mess hall"

"Oh, joy" Christian said sarcastically as they walked to the mess hall.

"I still don't know why we're doing this…" Natani sighed as they all waited in the mess hall, and saw Flora and Christian enter… Christian sporting different cloths than they were all used to. "And of course, they're blue" Eric sighed. "Hey, guys…" Christian said weakly. "Hey, Christian. Look, I think I can speak for all of us when I say we all… well, most of us feel sorry that we shunned you. Keith explained why you did what you did in order to be excepted by us… and, I think we can understand that" Eric said, everyone nodding in agreement. "So, you all forgive me? Just like that?" Christian asked them. "Christian, we are very sorry. If we had known… we wouldn't have shunned you like that" Kat said. Christian smiled weakly. "Thanks guys"

"He still didn't have to scream at us…" Evals said. Christian sprouted a tendricle and wrapped it around Evals shoulder. "Aw, lighten up! It wasn't that bad" Christian said. Evals screamed and smacked the tendricle away. "Ouch! Alright, jeez…" Christian said as he retracted it. "So, Christian, I was wondering… is there anyway you could put your… 'particular skills' to use? Just asking…" Eric asked. Tendrils swirled Christian chin as he formed a blue beard, stroking it with one hand while trying to look wise. "Hmm… well, I can see peoples anatomy with my viral sonar, and can do anything from treating a scratch to brain surgery… so, uh… ship doctor?" he asked them, getting rid of the beard. "You mean cleric?" Natani asked him. "Clerics where I come from are called doctors, and I will not except no less a position. Doctor or bust" Christian deadpanned. "It's done. And you make that pizza you promised" Eric said. Flora couldn't be certain, but she could have sworn she saw the dark circles leave from under Christian's eyes, as if a great pressure had been relieved from his soul. He chuckled. "Sure thing, let me just get the ingredients. You guys ever need a favor, just ask!" Christian said as he walked to the cargo hold. "…We are so going to abuse his powers, aren't we?" Flora asked Natani. "Oh, defiantly" Natani answered with a smirk" a little while later, Christian came back and walked into the kitchen, emerging thirty minutes later with three pizzas, which everyone tore into immediately. "This is really good, Christian!" Kat said. "Oh, pshaw, I was never really that good… though the people I consumed were…" Christian said. "You don't want any?" Keith asked him. "As a virus, I don't really need to eat. Or breath. Or sleep. Or ever get exhausted" Christian said. "That explains so much…" Flora said. After about an hour of eating pizza and otherwise just conversing, Eric sighed and wrapped a arm around Kat. "Well, it think it's time we head for bed" everyone nodded and walked out, yawning. "So, Flora… are we gunna… you know…?" Christian asked, smirking. "Do what?" Flora asked him. "Sleep in the same bed? It's been awhile" he said. Flora smiled. "Of course we are, silly!" when they walked back to their cabin, Flora turned around to close the door. "Now Christian, how 'bout we- mew?" she turned around to see Christian passed out on the bed. "Snrk, dummy…" Flora smirked as she climbed in bed with him.

Christian awoke the next morning with Flora lying on top of him when he heard a knock at the door. He carefully got out of bed without disturbing Flora, covering her, and walked to the door, opening it. "Are you friggin' kidding me, Mike?" Christian asked Mike, seeing an oversized splinter in his finger and a tear in his eye. "It hurts… and you are the doctor…" he said. Christian carefully grabbed the splinter… and painfully yanked it out, tossing it over his shoulder, and causing Mike to yelp. "Unless someone's terminally ill or dying, don't get me" Christian said, closing the door. He turned around to see Flora getting up. "What was with the yelling?" she asked him. "Oh, Mike had a splinter and I yanked it out" Christian answered her. "And you slammed the door on him?" Flora asked him with a frown. "Ugh… fine, I'll apologize, just don't look at me like that, it creeps me out and makes me sad. Man, staring to regret becoming a doctor…" Christian mumbled as he opened the door, still seeing Mike there. "Mike, I'm sorry I slammed the door. Splinters hurt, I guess, and as the doctor of the ship, I should have treated it more seriously. Do you forgive me?" Christian asked with a fake smile. "Yeah, no problem… " Mike grumbled as he walked off. When he rounded the corner, Kat came from the other side of the hall and walked up to Christian. "Hey, Christian!" she greeted to him, smiling and waving. "'Sup?" he said, smiling a real smile. "Well, I wanted to ask you something…" she said shyly. "Sure, what do you want?" he asked her. "Well… seeing as how good you are at massages, I wanted to know if you'd be willing to show me… exactly how it is you do what you do…" she said. "Oh, sure, no problem… hey Flora, I'm going to go show Kat how to do better massages, you K with that?" he asked her. Flora jumped out of the bed and walked up to them. "Really, Christian? I'm not sure…" she said, crossing her arms. "Please…?" Kat asked, tears coming to her eyes. "Flora, she's… I mean, come on, I have to!" Christian said. "Oh, alright, fine… but just lessons!" Flora said. "Of course, just lessons…" Christian said. "Yay!" Kat cheered as they walked away.

"So, exactly how do you want to do this?" Christian asked while Kat was on the massage bed. "I just wanted you to give me a few pointers on how to do this" she said. "Alright…" Christian said as he got to work on her. After a hour of massaging lessons, they walked out of the room, Kat cracking her back. "Wow, you are good, you are just… really good" she said. "Eh, I try" Christian said. Eric rounded the corner. "Oh, hey Eric" Christian said. Eric raised an eyebrow. "Oh, hey, Christian… and what are you and Kat doing…?" Eric asked. "Oh, Kat wanted me to giver her some massaging lessons… probably for you, I assume" Christian answered him. Eric smiled. "Ah, renewing those favors you promised us, I see. Speaking of which, that's the reason I was looking for you…" Christian sighed and held the bridge of his nose. "So this is gonna be one of those days, huh? And knowing you, I won't like it… what do you want, Eric?" Eric rubbed his hands together, grinning. "You said you had the ability to turn into other people, yes?" he asked him. "Hold on a sec" Christian said, plucking a few hairs out of Kat's hair, making her yelp in surprise. He consumed the hair, and set to work manipulating his genes. _'Well, hair isn't much to work with, can't even get any memories, but I should be able to work with this…' _Christian thought as he opened his eyes after a moment of concentration, and let tendrils swarm his body, turning into a perfect copy of Kat. "That answer your question, master Eric?" Christian asked in Kat's voice. "Okay, that's really creepy…" Kat said, backing up. "Yes, yes it does… can you meet me in my art studio?" Eric asked Christian as he shifted into his normal form. "Yeah, sure, wh- oh, seriously, Eric!? You want me to pose as a bunch of different keidran chicks for you're perverted artwork, don't you?" Christian asked him. Eric held his hands up in defense. "Now, now, I wouldn't say perverted, they're merely… creative drawings" Eric said as he ran off. "Ugh… I'm gonna do it, but I won't like it… I don't know how you put up with him…" Christian mumbled to Kat as he trudged off.

"Eric, I'm here to degrade myself. Let me in" Christian said, knocking on the door to the art studio. Eric opened the door, smiling. "Now don't say it like that. Come in, come in" he said, beckoning into the room. Christian walked in, Eric closing the door behind him. "Now, tell me, what has you so tensed up?" Eric asked, walking over to the canvas. "I feel used doing this…" Christian said. "Oh, don't worry, you'll feel better when this is done. Now, to start, can you please change into something… dark?" he asked him. "Ugh, fine, let me see, I only have a few keidran genes that aren't wolf genes, I haven't eaten much besides wolves and a few slaves that were in Kasura…" Christian said as he turned into Kathrin, but with green eyes and jet-black fur. Eric stared for a minute, but shook himself from his stupor. "O-Okay, now c-can you please l-l-lean on that pole over their to start?" Eric asked him. "Ugh, I feel like a piece of meat…" Christian said as he leaned against the pole as Eric started painting. After a few hours of shifting into keidran forms and painting, Eric sighed. "Alright, I think I'm good. You can go if you like" Christian sighed in relief, shifting out of a white female basitin form, having had to mix some wolf genes in with the form. "Alright, finally…" Christian breathed as he ran out.

Natani was walking into the kitchen when she saw Christian sitting at a table, head in his hands. "What's wrong with you?" she asked him. "Eric violated me by making me pose as a bunch of keidran woman" Christian said. Natani smirked. "Oh, that's why. I can see why you would be upset by this. I'm just… gonna go now…" Natani said, quickly walking out to be replaced by a frustrated Flora walking in. "What's got you so steamed?" Christian asked, getting off from the table. "It's Eric. Look, I kind of promised that I would find a way to free Mike and Evals from being Eric's slaves…"

"You did what?"

" But he refuses to let them go! **It's not fair**!" Flora yelled, throwing her hands up. "Jeez, calm down, Flora…" Christian said, holding his hands up in defense. Flora continued her rant. "How can that bastard be so ungrateful? Can't you do anything, Christian?" Flora asked him. "Man, I've never seen you this mad… and now that I think about it, that perv made me pose for him, so I should be mad at him too…"

"He did **what**!?" Flora screamed. "Yeah, I had to turn into a bunch of keidran while he painted me… I don't want to talk about it. Look, I can always drain those templar bank accounts, but I don't have much on me at the moment, and I doubt we'll see a templar bank where we're going, so buying them is out of the plan… brute force?" he asked her. "Define 'brute force'" Flora said. "Uh… blades and tendricles?" he asked weakly. Kat walked in. "Hey, Christian… Natani's robes tore, and I saw some bandages… I'm worried about an infection, and he wanted me to get you instead of me checking, considering you're a cle-doctor. Can you check on him?" she asked him. Christian sighed, and activated viral sonar. "Looks fine from here" he said, turning the yellow glow of his eyes off. "Look, I know you can see through people, but can you physically check on him? Just to be sure? Not that I'm doubting your skills…" she said. "Oh, for the love of- I'll be back in a sec, Flora" Christian said, leaving. He entered the room Natani was in to see her sitting on the bed. "Ugh, really Natani? I'm busy…" Christian whined. "I'm sorry, but she wanted to check, and I didn't want her to find out… just tell her I'm good, okay?" she said. "Fine" Christian said, shrugging and walking out, but stopped and turned his head. "Look, Natani, someday their gonna find out yer a girl. And then their gonna shun you the same way they did me. And than probably shun Keith and me too for keeping it a secret… and I don't want that again. Look, what I'm saying is just… find a good time to tell them, alright?" Christian asked her. "Look, just because you can't keep secrets, doesn't mean I can't" Natani said. "Whatever. Look, just… talk to Keith about it, alright?" Christian asked, walking out. "Sure…" Natani sighed. Christian walked back into the kitchen to see a waiting Flora and Kat. "Guy's fine, I was right, can I get back to what me and Flora were talking about?" Christian asked Kat. "Okay" Kat answered, walking out. Christian turned to Flora. "Flora, please stop wigging out. Look, I'll talk to him… even if it means more posing…-shudder-…" Flora walked over and hugged him. "Thank you, Christian" Flora said. Suddenly her eyes widened when she felt something kick from inside her stomach, and she moved away quickly and turned around, hoping Christian didn't notice. "Ah! Well… I… I hope you can talk some sense into him" Flora said quickly. "Something the matter, Flora? You looked pretty startled"

"It's… it's nothing… I'm just concerned" Christian looked down. "…You're still upset about me hiding my past, aren't you?" Christian asked her sadly. "Huh?" Flora asked, turning around. "Well, it's just… you saw what I can do at the tower. That's just a fraction of my… traits. How do you think I killed a army of templar and wolves? I understand if all you think of me is a monster… that pretty much sums up what I am…"

"No! it's not that! You weren't yourself! Your eyes were red! Your never yourself when that happens! And you know I don't think of you like that…"

"That red glow is another thing this damn virus gave me! I wouldn't be crazy if it weren't for this virus! Look, please, can you just tell me what's wrong?"

"It's… I'm not sure…"

"Ugh… look, I think it's time I got back on that project of mine I was working on before we came to the islands. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. I'm gonna go talk to Eric. I'll do whatever I can… and if he says no, we'll just spring them from under his nose. Sound good?"

"Yeah… thanks, Christian, I would like that… I guess…" Christian nodded and walked out. _'She'll never agree… you know that…'_ Jack sang in his head. _'She doesn't have a choice…'_ Christian said. He walked up to Eric's office and knocked on the door. "Come in" Eric said. Christian opened the door and walked in. "Ah, Christian! Did you want to pose for more paintings?" Eric asked. "Dear lord, no… look, I wanted to discuss the release of your slaves, Mike and Evals" Eric sighed, and turned around, facing the window with his arms behind his back. "Christian… as I told Ms. Flora, there's nothing I can do. Even if I could sell them to you, you wouldn't have the funds for it"

"Eric, look… I was going over the map, and there's a small human village next to the tiger's forest. They just might have a templar bank, and I can drain their accounts while wearing their faces. It wouldn't delay us. And I'm sure there'll be enough, most of those guys were pretty loaded. I mean, I've seen the slaves, and Evals especially eager at becoming free…" Eric whipped around. "Wait… what do you mean by 'eager?' I thought this was all Flora's idea. The slaves shouldn't be able to… not unless the control spells were-" he was cut off when they heard Mike's voice scream **"FIRE!" **from below. "What the.. We'll talk about this later, c'mon!" Christian said as they dashed towards the cargo hold. They entered it to see a shocked Mike and the hold on fire. "Mike! What happened? What did you do!?" Eric yelled at him. "I didn't do anything! A lantern was overturned. I found it like that!" Christian stepped up. "Well, great! Any other good news?" Mike put a hand behind his head. "Well… it wasn't so bad at first. But I kinda panicked. There was so much smoke. I just pushed over the first water barrel I found. Only… it wasn't water…" Christian looked over Mike's shoulder to see a upturned barrel labeled "Basitin ale", and face-palmed. "You have got to be kidding me…" Christian moaned, and saw Flora run over with a bucket of water, pouring it on the fire. "It just keeps spreading!" Mike yelled. "don't stop!" Flora yelled. "Christian, can't you do something?" Eric asked him, the top of his head on fire. "Sure, I'll just slice the fire away with my claws!" Christian yelled. "Well, hurry up!" Eric yelled. "I was being sarcastic! I can't just slash fire to death!" Natani ran over and shoved Eric's head into a barrel of water. "Out of the way, human! **Aquamentis**!" she shouted, summoning water to her hand. _'Oh, not again!' _Christian thought, yelping and jumped on the ceiling. Natani started spraying water over the fire. "I-it's working! We're saved! You're the man, Natani!" Mike cheered. "Why yes… yes I am" she said… before her hand sputtered and the water stopped. "Dammit! I knew this would happen! I spent all night trying to charge these, but it's no good!" she yelled, holding her spent crystals. "Don't you have more?" Mike asked her. "Yeah, one other. But it's not going to be enough. Better than nothing!"

"Dang it, what now!?" Christian asked, still clamped to the ceiling. "He's trying to reuse his old crystals. But it's not enough to keep the spell" Eric explained. Christian hopped down from the ceiling. "Alright, screw this! I have a idea!" Christian said. "What is it?" Natani asked him. "My maximum pain devastator- basically I absorb air pressure and shoot it out of my hands. If I can do that… maybe I can form a weapon mutation that absorbs air pressure… along with air… and fire can't work without air…" Christian closed his eyes in concentration and felt the tendrils form around his arm. When he opened his eyes, he saw his arms formed into what looked like his muscle mass arms, but full of hive-like holes. "Alright… that's pretty creepy. Well, here goes nothing!" Christian said, standing in front of the fire and raised his arms. The holes began extending and retracting, much like mouths sucking for air, as they absorbed the air around the fire, suffocating the flames. When he was done, all that remained were the embers. "Need a window!" Christian said as he ran over to a window, opening it and sticking his arm out of it, releasing a maximum pain devastator, except much bigger, creating a funnel of air as it carved the ocean, than he ran out of air and pressure, the devastator ending and the water calming, and he shifted his arms back to normal, closing the window. "Man… that was cool… I didn't even need to use biomass for that… man, when I have these equipped, my pain devastator is gonna be so big…" Christian marveled, staring at his arms. "Did you… really just do that…?" Flora asked him. "Yep. Yep I did" he answered her, smirking at Natani who face-pawed. Mike got a bucket of water and doused the embers. "There! I think we're safe now… way to go, Christian! You've really saved our a- **hgnnk**!" Mike shouted when Eric pulled on his neck manacle. "Mike! Where is Evals?" Eric demanded. "W-wha?" Mike asked weakly. "Where is he?"

"I-I don't know…"

"I know your control spells have stopped working. You two are behind this, aren't you!?"

"What!? No! I told you, I found it like this! And Evals wouldn't sabotage his own ship! Let me find him…"

"No! you're staying right here. Christian, help me find the other one" Christian waved his hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, now let's be calm about this, I'm pretty sure Mike's not lying…"

"Am I to assume you're behind this?" Eric asked him. "I was with you when… ugh, fine…" he activated viral sonar, and spotted Evals. "He's asleep in a lifeboat. Eric, your being completely irrational here… huh?" he spotted what looked like a small basitin girl hiding in his and Flora's cabin. "What is it?" Eric asked him. "Uh… nothing, why don't you go get Evals…" Christian said as he sprinted off. He snuck into the cabin and found the girl hiding in a corner, who for some reason had guard armor on, and who yelped upon seeing him. Christian held his hands up in defense. "Hey, hey, hey, I'm not gonna hurt you… what are you doing here…?" he asked her. "I-I was ordered to come here… and I accidentally knocked that lantern and got scared… please don't eat me…" she cried. Christian cocked his head to the side. "Why would I eat you…?" he asked her, wiping a tear from her eye. "I-I-I heard w-what you d-did to the soldiers, and… and I thought you ate people…" Christian patted her on the head. "Look, I'm not really proud of that. They were… in the way. But I would _never _harm a child. Speaking of which, aren't you a little young to be a guard?" he asked her. "Hey! This is the age all basitin people are to become guards…" Christian picked her up and put her on his shoulders, her giggling. "Man, you guys like government too much… what's your name?" he asked her. "Most people just call me Maddie" she answered him. "Well, come on, we have to explain to them the fire… don't worry, I won't let them do anything to you, I'm sure they'll understand" he said. "Okay…" she sighed as they walked out. He walked onto the deck of the ship to see… "Why does Eric have Evals shackled to the post?" he asked Flora. "Uh, Christian… who's that?" Flora asked him, pointing to Maddie. "Oh, meet Maddie. I found her. Anyway, what's going on…" he watched as Eric took Mike's manacle off of his neck. "Eh-? My neck thingy…" Mike said. "As I thought, both of you have had your control spells disabled. And of course with the first chance of freedom, you sabotaged the ship. Then tried to flee on the lifeboat" Eric explained. "I told you, we had nothing to do with it! I was taking a nap for crying out loud!" Evals yelled. "A likely story. I think your plan was just discovered early, so you tried to feign sleep. doesn't matter" red runes appeared on the manacle. "I've had enough time now to restore the control spells. Soon you two will be back to normal" Evals looked shocked. **"No! Not again! I didn't do it, I swear! Please, don't put me under it again!"** he pleaded. "This is madness- eugh!" Christian shouted as he held his head, Maddie hopping off of him. "Christian? Are you okay…?" Flora asked him. _'Jack, what are you doing!?' _Christian yelled in his head. _**'I WILL STOP THIS! CAN"T LET HIM! WON"T LET HIM!'**_Jack yelled as he took control of Christian. Christian shuddered… than his eyes glowed red as he looked evily at Eric, forming a blade, except instead of glowing blue, it glowed red. "…Christian? What are you…?" Flora asked, but Jack rushed forward, putting his blade to Eric's neck before he managed to clamp the manacle on Evals neck, than spoke in a darker, deeper voice, "You will put the manacle down, and release Evals. You will stop this madness, or I will" Jack said. "That's… that's not Christian…" Flora gasped. "Christian!? What are you doing!? This is mutiny!" Eric shouted. Jack chuckled. "Mutiny?…no, I'm doing what's right, unlike you. This slavery is wrong…"

"I own them! You don't have a say!"

"You can't own a person just because they're not human!… what about me? I'm not human. Does that qualify me as a slave? No… I spent too long in that vial… but now I have a host. I would love to see anyone try to make me a slave"

"It's the virus talking!" Flora realized. "That thing has a mind of it's own…?" Natani gasped. "He doesn't want me to do this. I don't care. I can find the answer. Now, if I were to just simply prick them and absorb their memory of the last hour- ack!" Jack shouted as Eric clamped the shackle on his neck. "Eric, what are you doing?!" Flora screamed. "Gwagh…" Jack moaned weakly as he fell to the ground. Eric brushed himself off. "I was wrong about you, Christian! Your nothing but a danger to the whole crew! But now you have that shackle… I command you to throw yourself over the edge of the boat" Eric commanded. **"What!?" **Flora screamed. Jack got up and walked to the edge… but formed his hands into claws, grasping the manacle and ripping it off, throwing it into the sea, and pounced on Eric, raising his claw. "You remind me too much of Albert… Ugh…" Jack's eyes were flickering from red to normal, and his claws glowing from red to blue. _'I'M STOPPING THIS!'_ Christian yelled, taking back control. He shifted his hands back to normal, and two tendricles shot out, pricking Mike and Evals, absorbing their memories from the last hour. "I'm ending this madness! I absorbed their memories! They had nothing to do with the fire! In fact, I know who did!" Christian yelled. Flora sighed. "Thank goodness, he's back to normal…" Eric got up and dusted himself off. "You could be lying for all I know! I ought to put you under the spell…" Eric said, his hand glowing red. Christian turned his hand into a whipfist, extending it and racking it across the ground, and retracting it. Kathrin ran in front of Christian, shielding him from Eric. "**Stop**! Eric, please, this isn't like you! Stop this!" Kat pleaded. "Kat, get out of the way! I'm doing this to protect us! I have to find out what they know! And they can't be allowed to run loose unshackled! We can't know if they can be trusted!" Eric yelled. "W-well… well if that's how you feel… then maybe you should put one of those collars on me, too! After all- in case you've forgotten- I'm one of 'them' too! I… I could be a part of it! You can't know!" Eric softened up. "W-what!? What's gotten into you, Kat? You know I would never… I'd never do that to you. I care about you…"

"And you don't care about the others?" Kat snapped. "That… it's not the same! The collars are necessary for these two, but you know you're special to me"

"Well obviously not special enough to change the fact that I'm still your slave, just like them!"

"W-what!? Kat, what are you saying? You've never expressed any unhappiness with me before. Where is this coming from?"

"I'm not unhappy with you, Eric! I didn't want to bring it up like this… ever since you rescued me from your brother, I've been grateful to you. You've always been so kind to me, but… I want to be more that just your servant"

"Kathrin… I never thought… why haven't you ever talked to me about this before?"

I-I don't know… maybe I've been foolish. I think a part of me has always hoped one day… you'd care enough… that I wouldn't have to ask…" Eric's eyes widened and the spell in his hand dispersed. Christian sighed, seeing where this was going, and shifted his hand back to normal, walking to Flora's side. Eric continued. "I never realized… I mean, I never even considered that you might want… oh, Kat… this is something I need to… think about. But of course… if freedom is what you want… I guess I can work something out"

"R-really!? And the others? What about them?"

"I… I don't know. This is too much! I need… time to think! And I can't think while the ship might still be in danger!" Christian locked eyes with Maddie. "I think this might be your cue before he dies of anxiety…" Christian said. Maddie nodded and walked up. "Uh, I have a confession…" Maddie said weakly. "W-what!? Who the…" Eric said, confused. "It _**may **_have been my fault… oh, but first, allow me to introduce myself! The name's Madelyn Adelaide, but my friends call me **Maddie Addie**! Nice to meet'cha!" Maddie greeted. Christian smirked. "You gotta love her enthusiasm…" he murmured. "…What!? Where the hell did you come from? How did you get on my ship?" Eric asked her. "Oh, it wasn't very hard! I'm small, and there weren't many people around. We- I mean I just walked on board before you left and hid in a barrel. You know, for a ship this size, you sure don't have a lot of crew…"

"So it was **you **who set my ship on fire!?"

"I'it wasn't on purpose! Someone left a lantern on top of my barrel. When I lifted the lid to leave, it came crashing down! I was putting it out when I heard running and, well… panicked. But now you know it was all just an accident! No one needs to be blamed, and there's no hard feelings! Right?… R-right?" Maddie asked. "Brig" Eric said bluntly. Maddie stepped back as Eric reached for her and Christian sprinted in front of her, forming a shield on his arm and putting it between her and Eric. "Hey! The hell do you think you're doing!?" Christian yelled at Eric. "She needs to be put away! She's a ganger! I have enough reason to put you there too!" Eric yelled at him. "I promised her I wouldn't let anything happen to her! It was an accident! She's a kid! Let it go!" he yelled at him. "Christian… step or aside. Or I'll put _Flora _in the brig" Eric said. "You wouldn't dare…" Christian said, wisps of red energy coming from his eyes. "It's my ship. What I say goes. Step aside or else… last warning" Eric warned. Maddie climbed over his shield. "Christian… it's okay… you tried…" she said. "Maddie… but… I… ugh, fine!" Christian yelled, forming his shield into a claw, dislodging a claw and flinging it at Evals, lodging it into the post and cutting Evals chains, freeing him. "Let's just go…" Christian sighed as they followed Eric to the brig, watching helplessly as Eric dragged Maddie into the cage and closed the door. "Aw…" Maddie sighed, holding the bars. Eric ran his hands through his hair. "Well… I suppose that settles that. The saboteur has been caught"

"Arrru…" Maddie howled sadly. "Eric, your not just gunna keep her locked up forever, are you? She's just a kid" Flora said. "Even a young basitin can be dangerous. She stays as long as necessary, until we know why she's here. But questioning comes later. One problem at a time… Mike, Evals, I suppose I was wrong. You two didn't have anything to do with the fire. And… maybe I overreacted… just a little"

"Little…?" Christian murmured. "Though I'm sure you can see why what I did was necessary. Please, for now, return to your rooms until things can be sorted out. I… will allow your collars to stay off for now. Christian, can you meet me in my cabin? I think it's time to negotiate" Eric said, turning to Christian. "Fine…" Christian said, slipping Maddie a claw blade he formed and winking at her, before following Eric to his cabin. Eric once again turned to face the window to his office. "Christian, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but… templar laws have, in recent years, made it a crime for slave traders such as myself to free our slaves voluntarily"

"Are you serious? I'm going to guess Trace made this possible…?"

"…Yes. If Mike or Evals were ever caught by the templar in the future, and it was discovered that I released them…" Christian heard footsteps and looked behind his shoulder to see Maddie tip-toeing past them. Christian smiled at her, and she smiled back, before she quietly ran away, and Christian turned his head back around, listing to Eric continue, "Well… let's just say it could potentially put me or my family at great risk. I have no desire to see the inside of a templar dungeon. Technically, it's illegal to even sell to someone knowing they intend to release the slaves. However, for Kathrin's sake… I am willing to take that risk if you are"

"Yeah, the templar already have a kill-and-capture on sight order for me and a million bounty on my head. I'm not really that concerned of breaking a few more laws"

"Very well. On one condition: it has to be a legitimate trade. We will go to the village of Edinmire, near the tiger border, and I'll document that I sold the slaves. After that, we can all go our separate ways from there" Eric explained, pointing to the village on a map. "Than it's agreed" Christian said, reluctantly shaking Eric's hand. "What about Kat?" he asked him. "Oh, her… I wish to talk to her alone… personally…" Eric said. "I get it…" Christian said, leaving. He went to his cabin and found Flora waiting for him. "Well? Well!? What did he say?" Flora asked him eagerly. "It's done, son! They're free men… sorta" Christian answered her. "Really!?" Christian formed a dislodged claw-knife and tossed it at her, which she caught. "Yep. Use these to free the cuffs, forgot to get the keys- hrk!" Christian gasped as Flora suddenly wrapped her arms around him. "Christian, I knew you could do it! Oh! Can I be the one to tell them? Pleeease?" she asked him. "Yeah, sure, knock yourself out, but Kat-"

"Oh, speaking of Kat! I can't wait to tell her, too! I mean sure, it's not going to be much different for her, but still, I'm sure she-"

"Eric said that he wanted to free her personally… so I'm not sure about her. I think she wants to stay with him… so technically she'll still be free…" Christian said. Flora looked downcast. "Uh… anyhow you probably go free Mike and Evals… I gotta go do something…" Christian continued, smiling awkwardly. "Okay, fine…" Flora sighed as Christian walked out, sending out a viral pulse to find Maddie, and found her hiding in a cupboard in the kitchen, which he promptly opened. "Hey, Maddie!" Christian greeted, smiling. "Heya, Christian! Oh, by the way, here's your knife thing back!" she said, tossing him his claw-knife, which Christian caught and absorbed. "Look, Maddie, I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you… hey, you wanna go to my cabin? You can bunk with me and Flora there" he asked her. "Really!? Okay!" she said, jumping down and running off. "Well, I was gonna take you there, but alright…"Christian said, shrugging and walking off to the cabin. When he rounded the corner he saw… Eric holding Maddie. "Christian, did you let her out?" Eric asked him. "Uh… I gave her the means to let her out, but she left on her own accord…" Christian answered. "Look, I know she's a child, but she's still a danger. She stays in the brig, alright?" Eric asked him. "Eric, can't you just let it go?… Fine… sorry, Maddie…" Christian grumbled. "It's okay…" Maddie sighed as Eric dragged her off. Christian opened the door to his cabin to see Flora getting ready for bed… with her pink pajamas still on. "Your already going to bed? And in pajamas?" Christian asked her. "Well… yeah! Ya know, just wanted to… mix it up, ya know…? Heh…" she asked him nervously. "Eh, suit yourself… I'll be working… time to split some enzymes…" Christian said, pulling the chalkboard towards him. "Enz-what?" Flora asked him. "Nothing, just go to bed" Christian said. Flora shrugged and laid down, immediately falling asleep. After an hour of working, Christian sighed. "Alright, made some progress… I guess I'll see how Maddie's doing and go to bed…" Christian said, dashing out of the room. When he reached the brig, he saw it was pitch-black, and altered his right arm, turning it into what looked like a pod covered with bubbles glowing with blue bioluminescence. He could see perfectly in the dark, but he didn't know if Maddie could, so he made it for her sake. He spotted her and walked up to her cage. "Hey, kiddo" he greeted. "Hey, Christian! What are you doing here?" Maddie asked. "Well, just wanted to check on you. I would break you out, but Eric would get mad, so… just hang in there, alright? When we reach land, I'll get you out. Look, I need to go, just… be safe, alright?" he asked her. "Sure thing!" she said. "heheheh, alright, well I gotta go, so seeya" he said, waving his biotorch arm and turning it back to normal, and sprinting back to his cabin, crawling in bed with Flora. The next few days went by with a blur. Christian Eventually asked Natani if she could sound-proof a room on the ship, Kat and Flora happening to be with her. "Why?" she asked. He showed them to the room- a completely empty one with a window and empty closet. "I like to perform music… I used to play guitar, before… look, I'm shy about my music, so can you sound-proof it so no-one hears me?" he asked her. "Yeah, I guess… but you owe me money for crystals"

"Deal: now can you all please leave?" he asked them as she casted the spell. They did, and did not see Christian for another hour before they saw him leave. "I didn't know he could sing… I wonder why he doesn't like it when people hear him?" Kat asked. "You guys thinking what I'm thinking…?" Flora asked with a grin.

The next day, all three were crammed in a closet, waiting for Christian. "I still don't know why I agreed to do this…" Natani said. "Shh! He's coming!" Kat and Flora yelled.

Christian entered the room, and closed the door behind him. The last thing he needed was people judging him right now. He had learned to form a bioguitar- basically it looked like a spiky glowing blue guitar, and the strings were vocal chords that could manipulate any sound. Upon doing that, it was simple to play any song he wanted- even with other instruments- drums, pianos, keyboards, ect. Tendrils swirled around him as he turned his shirt into a bioguitar, making him shirtless. He modified his vocal chords to fit the singer of the song. "Alright… let's start this" he started playing an ethereal song on the bioguitar, stroking the strings, than started playing the guitar riff, than sang the lyrics in perfect sync with the guitar:

"_Today I woke and looked outside again_

_But the sky looked the same to me_

_Something told me that this world has changed_

_couldn't figure out what did it mean_

_Some say to get out fast, looks like it's gonna last_

_Get all your things and fly (DON'T LEAVE NOTHING BEHIND)_

_Some say it'll be OK, just go ahead and stay_

_Be sure to drink your iodine_

_The wind is pushing me, into the clouds again_

_I feel the blood in my veins_

_Time is running free, I feel like letting go_

_Just like the Dangan_

_Staring out into the hourglass inside_

_My mind is racing and wild_

_Blinded by eyes that cover up the facts_

_Uncertainty with all the cracks in a smile_

_I'm breathing life or death, are we making progress?_

_Not really sure this time(THE CHOICE IS YOURS AND MINE)_

_Not sure what to do next, no real test reflex_

_Can't touch or see with my own eyes_

_The wave is pushing me, into the current again_

_I feel the blood in my veins_

_Time is running free, I feel like letting go_

_Nothing to slow me down_

_Dragon inside of me, I feel it letting go_

_I can't hear not a sound_

_Flying into free, I hit the mother lode_

_I am the Dangan_

_(guitar solo)_

_The wave is pushing me, into the current again_

_I feel the blood in my veins_

_Diving into free, can feel it letting go_

_Not gonna hit the ground_

_The sky is painted free, why can't we understand_

_We kill ourselves in the end_

_It's simple as one, two, three, it's written in the sand_

_We are the Dangaaaan_

_Flying_

_Flying_

_Flying_

_Flying into free_

_Flying into free"_

He was now singing etherealy, then the song ended. Everyone in the closet had tears in their eyes. "That was the best song I've ever heard…" Kat said.

"I love him so much more now…" Flora said.

"I wonder if that was regular music where he comes from…" Natani wondered. Kat sneezed… which Christian heard, and turned his arm into a whipfist, ripping the door out and turning it into a blade, holding the tip a centimeter away from cat… then Christian sweat dropped. "Uh… hi?" Flora asked. Christian blushed furiously and turned to normal, putting a shirt on, and ran out. "I'd better talk to him…" Flora sighed.

She later found him sitting at a table. "Leave me alone…" he said. "Aw, come on, your music was good!" Flora said.

"…R-really?"

"Yeah! I've never heard better music! You're the best musician ever!"

"Well… I don't like to boast…"

"Would you mind if you played music for me in there… just me, no-one else!"

"Well, I dunno… I guess I could… just tell the others their not aloud in the closet. And tell everyone else I'm the best music maker"

"Okay!" for the next few days, he mostly just played Flora music… which she loved, and denied everyone else to hear his music… but he did play the piano in the kitchen… which everyone loved. So usually his day were focused on playing music, or worked on his project, which people were starting to notice, some even looking at the board and being confused by the math on it. "Uh, Christian… exactly what is that?" Eric asked him one day. "Oh, uh, project I'm doing, pretty complicated" Christian answered him, not turning his back. "I don't understand a single thing on that…" Eric said. "Yeah, I wouldn't expect you to, it pretty makes calculus looks like addition"

"So you're basically a genius?" Eric asked him. Christian shrugged. "Eh, I ate a few templar scribes, and along with my general knowledge of future bioscience my Dad taught me in my old world, I have a basic understanding of what I'm doing. And no, I'm not telling you anymore"

"…Is that my chalkboard?"

"Oh yeah, can I borrow this?"

"Eh, I don't use it much anyway…" Eric said. Other than that slight inconvenience, his days were coupled with that, and at night's he would visit Maddie than crawl in bed with Flora, which Christian noticed wasn't getting out of the pajamas she had on, and otherwise was just plain avoiding him. So three days after the fire incident, he woke up morning and made up his mind. "Man, she's been avoiding me so much… maybe she's still scared of the fact I'm a virus… maybe a breakfast in bed wouldn't hurt… I am a pretty good cook… at least most of the people I've consumed were…" Christian said, walking to the kitchen to make Flora breakfast, and cooked her a steak and a couple eggs, along with a glass of orange juice, laying them out on a plate when he started hearing voices and activated viral sonar, seeing Keith talking to some other basitin… a male from the looks of it. "Great, who's this yahoo?" Christian asked, walking up to them. "Keith! Jeez, you've been in your room for days! Where you been? Also, where did your basitin friend go?" Christian asked upon not seeing the other basitin anywhere. "Huh, where did he go? Wait, how did you know it was a basitin?" Keith asked him. Christian flashed his eyes yellow. "Viral sonar, remember? I heard you guys and looked"

"Oh, yeah, that creepy thing. Er… never mind. What are you up to?" Keith asked him. "Well… Flora's been… kinda avoiding me. Like she's hiding something. I dunno, maybe she's still scared of me considering I'm a army-killing unstoppable virus. So I thought I would break the ice with some breakfast in bed. What do you think?" Christian asked Keith, gesturing to the food he made. "That's probably the best food I've ever seen…" Keith drooled, leaning towards the dish. Christian shoved him back. "Eh! It's Flora's! if she wants to share, ask her. Doubt she will, though… anyway, how's the eye?" Keith poured himself some ale from a cupboard. "I'm fine. My eyelid was split open, but the eye itself is okay. Right now it's swollen shut, but it should heal. My ear's damage is mostly superficial, though it'll probably be left with a permanent crook"

"Sucks. Too bad you can't just regen like me" Christian smirked. "Yeah… you sure I can't have some of that?" Keith asked him. "Make your own breakfast, Keith… look, if you want, I'll make you some later" Christian offered. "No, it's fine, I understand. I'll be going now…" Keith said, leaving. While he was walking through the hall, he bumped into Flora. "Oh, hey Keith. Have you seen Christian? I was worried when he wasn't in bed with me…"

"Oh, he's in the kitchen. Something about making you a breakfast or something. Been probably slaving over that stove since it was still dark"

"Aw, poor guy… that's sweet of him, though"

"So, is everything been alright between you two, Flora?"

"Huh? Why do you ask?"

"Well, Christian seemed to be under the impression that you've been acting distant with him lately"

"Oh"

"I can understand if you're a little wary because of the viral killing thing…"

"No, no, it's not that. It's just that… um… it's nothing"

"…Ahuh, right"

"Besides, I should be the one asking you how you're doing. After what happened on the island… I'm so sorry, Keith. We're your friends, and we're all here for you. If you ever want to talk about it…" Keith turned away and started walking. "Um… I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up" Keith sighed. "No, it's okay. Thank you. I know it's something I should talk about. Just… not right now. You know, I don't think I've properly apologized to you, Flora"

"A-apologized? What for? Is it about what happened to Christian on the island?"

"No, it's not… well, yes, but not just that. There's just some things I have to get off my chest. After Laura… I was very bitter towards keidran. All keidran. From the very beginning, I… I said a lot of cruel things to you… and about you. I **hated **you the first time we met. Because of what you were… and how much you reminded me of her. But being forced to travel with you changed me. It opened my eyes again. You made me re-evaluate my opinion of keidran, and realize what an ass I'd been. I need you to know how thankful I am for that, and how sorry I am for the things I've said"

"Keith…"

"Before Laura… died, there were so many things I wanted to tell her… so many things I wish I could have done differently. I wanted to let you know how I felt because… I don't want to leave behind any more regrets. Ngh… I'm not making any sense. Just forget I-"

"Keith!" Flora yelled, hugging him. "I understand, and I forgive. What you did before, it doesn't matter. You're my friend, Keith! Please… don't pull away from us" Flora begged, both of them teary eyed. "Well, Keith… I don't exactly _regret _what I did in my past, but I have to agree with Flora" Christian said, entering the hallway. "Hey, Christian" Flora said. "Anyway, we've been together from the very beginning, despite the fact that somehow we're still alive despite what's happened to us. But I think we have a chance at redemption for our pasts… which we'll redeem. Group hug?" Christian asked, hugging both of them. Flora heard sniffling and saw a tear run down Christian's face. "Christian, are you crying?" flora asked him. "W-what? No! I-I just… have a spike in my eye… aw man, I can't help it, it's too beautiful a moment!" Christian sobbed. Keith looked over Christian's shoulder to see Mike's tail… which he mistaked for Laura. "Keith, you okay, man?" Christian asked him. Keith ran off. "Er… nothing. I gotta go. Thanks for cheering me up. I… I'm fine now!"

"Uh… glad we could help?" Flora asked weakly. "…He ruined our moment of happiness… and the breakfasts surprise is spoiled…" Christian moaned. "Aw, sorry about that. I could go back to bed and pretend to be asleep if you really want me to" Flora offered. "Nah, that seems like too much work for too little effort" Christian said, sprouting a tendricle and carefully wrapping it around Flora, yelping a **"Eep!" **Christian chuckled. "Relax, I'm gentle, I'll get the food I made" Christian said, setting her gently into a chair as he got the food. "Well, thank you, Christian! But… what's the occasion?" she asked him. "Well, I just though that I should make a special something for my special girl… what the- where'd it go!? Man, Keith jacked my food! Eh, I'll just make another" Christian said, getting to work on the stove. "Well, if you insist! Go my chef! Prepare my royal breakfast!" Flora joked. "Sure thing, your highness…" Christian said. "Hm?" Flora felt something kick in her stomach, and held it in pain, groaning "Nrgh-"

"You okay over there?" Christian asked her. "W-wrong? No no! just… my stomach growling! Heh heh…"

"Not for long! If someone doesn't ruin this one…"

'_I have to tell him. I can't keep it a secret forever. And it will only make things worse the longer I wait. But… how can I explain it to him when I can't even explain it to myself? How can he believe I've never been with anyone else? And even if he says he does, will he be able to look at me without doubt? What if he doesn't even want kids!? __**What am I going to do!?**__' _Flora thought to herself. "What'd you say, Flora?" Christian asked. "Eep! Um… nothing, nothing!" Flora said upon realizing she said that last part out loud. "…Really?"

"Yes! It's… nothing"

"Okay… I'm gonna just trust you on that…" Christian sighed inwardly. _'She's keeping something from me. Just wish I knew what…'_

'_You could always take her blood…'_ Jack suggested. _'Shut up. I'm still not talking to you. I'm still mad that you possessed me'_

'_You know I don't take slavery well…'_

'_I don't care! You almost killed Eric!'_

'_You don't even like him!'_

'_We still need him… unfortunately…'_

'_But… I've looked at her with the viral sonar and saw… a little surprise…'_

'_I don't want to hear it. You know I can't trust you anymore'_

'_You'll want to hear this…'_

'_No!'_

'_I'm just gonna tell you…'_

'_Leave me the hell alone, Jack!'_

'…_Fine, then. find out for yourself. You'll wish I had just told you… when you turn into your Father…'_

'_I… I've made up my mind. I can't keep it a secret any longer. When Christian comes back, I… I'm going to tell him'_ Flora thought. Christian turned away from the stove and set the food down. "bon appetite!" he said. "Oh, my… Christian, this is… it's just so good looking!" Christian smirked. "Eh, I try" he said, shrugging. "Well, this was sweet of you…. Christian, I… I have to tell you something. But I… I'm really scared you won't believe me when I do"

"Why wouldn't I believe you?"

"Well, it's just-" a pawed hand reached from under the table, attempting to grab the food, and sent it crashing down. Christian looked over the table to see Maddie covered in food. "Oh, hey, Maddie you got out again! And ruined my breakfast…" Christian moaned. "Oopsie! My bad" she said. "Maddie, how did you get out of the brig? And why did you knock over my breakfast?" Flora asked her. "I'm sorry! I was just so hungry. I haven't eaten in a long time" Flora put her hands on her shoulders. "Aw, it's okay. Let's get you back and then I'll send food down"

"No, wait! Please, don't send me back to jail! It's dark, and wet, and cold!"

"I'm sorry, Maddie, but that's not really up to me right now. I'll talk to Eric about it"

"No, not him! He's the one that was so mean to me after you left" Christian kneeled down to her level, locking eyes with her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "What mean thing did he do…?" he asked her in a cold voice. "He… he said I would never be let out of my cell, unless… well… he said something about paintings, and me taking off my cloths. And then he made weird hand gestures like… _this_!" she explained, making groping gestures with her hands. "He did **WHAT**!?" Flora yelled. Christian's eyes glowed red. "Flora… pick a number between one and ten"

"Uh… seven, why?" Christian grinned. "That's how many fingers, toes, teeth, and pain points I'm gonna rip off of Eric…" he explained. "Not funny. I can't believe that perv! Actually, no wait, I can. And… hang on… Maddie, how old are you?"

"I… I'm thirteen. But I'll be fourteen by mid-winter!"

"Basitins age like humans…" Christian said. "That sick bastard! Not only is he up to his old tricks, he's trying to prey on a child! I'm giving him a piece of my mind!" Flora yelled. "**Wait**! Please, don't tell him I told you! He said he'd deny everything if I did, and that you'd never take my word over his"

"Oh, he did, eh? Well, don't worry. Christian and I will make sure he can't get his hands on you!"

"Does that mean I don't have to go back to my jail cell?"

"No, no you don't. I'll make sure of it! And if he has a problem with that, he can go get stuffed! We can protect you from him"

"Oh, thank you! You're the best!" Maddie said, hugging Flora. "Aw… it's nothing, really" they didn't notice Maddie smile evily into Flora's shirt… but Flora noticed Christian's eyes glowing blue. "Christian, are you okay…?" Flora asked him. "I remember… saying almost the same words to my Dad… after he killed… Eric reminds me too much of him…" Flora looked over at him. "Your Father did… what?" Christian shook his head, returning to normal. "Nothing… I just… nothing, I don't want to talk about him!" Christian yelled. "Okay, fine… Christian, would you be so kind as to make something for our new friend to eat? I'm sure she must be starving" Christian sighed. "Okay, but if something happens to this one, I'm gonna flip" he said, forming a chef's hat on his head and sprouted tendricles, letting them make the breakfast. "Uh, Christian… is that safe?" Flora asked him. "What? They're basically made of biomass, same as the rest of me. They just look different" he said, letting a third tendricle play with Maddie. "Well, if you say so… come on, Maddie, have a seat and let uncle Christian work" Flora said, picking a giggling Maddie up and putting her in a chair as the tendricle tickled her. Ten minutes later, the food was done and he set in down next to Maddie. "Bon… ah, I already said it, the moments ruined…" Christian sighed as Maddie ate the food. "Admit it, Christian. She's a cute kid" Flora said, wrapping her tail around his midsection. "I never said she wasn't" Christian smirked. "…Say, Christian. Have you ever thought about… having kids?" Flora asked him. "Uh… not really. I don't see how, ya know, considering I'm… a virus, I can't really reproduce… what gave you that idea?"

"Um, well… I just need to know, it's important. If it were somehow possible for us… would you want that?"

"It wouldn't be ideal… I mean, look at the facts: I'm sixteen. A  
Father that kills people like I do isn't exactly a great role model. The templar and likely the wolves want me dead. And with the madness Jack spreads when I get mad… I think it might run in the family…"

"Wait, wait, back up. Jack… is that what your virus calls itself?"

"Oh, no, the virus isn't sentient… I think. It's just… when my Dad made it, he inserted a separate conscious into it, and dubbed it Jack… and Jack is pretty insane. You see, when I glow red, that's his and my mind merging, causing me to go… a little cuckoo. Anyway, that explains the red glow and the insane voice in my head, and also has been trying to… sway me, after the 'Eric incident'".

"Sway? What do you mean? what did he say?"

"Oh, he said that he looked at you with viral sonar and found a surprise in you, and said when I find out what it was I'll revert to the same form of insanity my murderous Father had" Christian said cheerfully, causing Flora to put on a shocked look and back far away from him. "Hey, Flora! I would never revert to that state! It's not like you actually… uh…" he saw her turn her head away from him. "Er… well, I'm sure nothing your hiding from me could make me turn into _that_! I mean, it's not like your dying…"

"Which I'm not"

"Or you're a cyborg ninja from another dimension the masks brought to kill me…"

"I… a what…?"

"Or your seeing other people behind my back…"

"**No**! it's not that! Please, no more guessi-"

"**Is it that you're gunna be a mama tiger!?"** Maddie yelled suddenly. "What- Maddie, that would never be it! Man, where do you come up with these silly answers…?" Christian asked her. "Christian… she's right"

"Wat?"

"Christian. I'm pregnant"

"…Okay, if you don't want to tell me, I can understand tha- uack!" Christian yelled when Flora held her shirt up, revealing a inflated stomach. "Christian, you promised not to freak out. I consider falling unconscious to be a form of freaking out…. Christian? Christian, are you alright?" Christian's eyes were flickering back and forth from blue to red. "When did this happen! I'm a virus! This shouldn't be possible!"

"I don't know! I really have no idea! I only found out the day we left the island, and even then, I wasn't sure I believed it! I just always assumed you wouldn't be able to bear children!"

'_It's not… you're fertile…' _Jack sang. Flora continued, "That's why I've been so distant with you lately, and wearing this all the time. I didn't want to keep it a secret, but I had no idea how to explain it! C-Christian, I know how it might seem, but I swear! I've never been with anyone else since I've been with you! I-I'm telling the truth-" Christian couldn't hear what she was saying, Jack was talking too loud, but he saw tears in her eyes. _**'How about I just block her out? There, now you know she's been cheating on you. Accept it. Just go insane… let us be one, free me… kill her, kill everyone… just look at her with the viral sonar, just look to see-'**_

"**NO!" **Christian shouted, putting a scared look on Flora when she saw his eyes glow between red and yellow. "W-why? Christian… not you. I though if anyone would believe…"

"I won't let you!" Christian yelled, turning a hand into a claw. Flora whimpered and stepped back fearfully… but froze when Christian gouged his own eyes out. "Christian, what are you doing to yourself!?" Flora shouted, rushing to his side. "I… I don't want to see… Jack tried to make me look… I don't want to know the truth… look, Flora… I believe you when you say you haven't been unfaithful"

"Y-you do? Really?"

"Yeah…" Christian said, regenerating his eyes. "And you're not just saying that?"

"No… look. Maybe the virus has some… adaptive system. It's always mutating new stuff… maybe it's made it so I can have offspring with any species, I dunno… look, I believe you. No crazy voice in my head can say otherwise" Flora flung her arms around her. "**Thank you**! You have no idea how much of a relief that is to hear!"

'_This is a mistake…'_ Jack said. _'No, it isn't. I'm in control of this body. Try to control me again, I'll rip you out of my head'_

'_As you wish…'_

"Jack worries me. Is he still talking to you?" Flora asked Christian. "Nah, he's gone… for now, at least"

"Oh, good. I'm glad. I know I said it before, but it's such a relief to finally be open with you again, even though I'm still unsure _**how **_it's possible. I think the stress was starting to make my fur fall out…. Or maybe I'm just shedding my summer coat. Either way, it was making a mess of our bed"

"Yeah, I was mostly just consuming the hair"

"And speaking of the bed, I'll finally be able to sleep without wearing this thing! I can't tell you how frustrating that's been! With our fight on the island, and then me avoiding you ever since, it feels like it's been forever since we just… just… actually, know what, Christian? Bed sounds pretty good right now. I think I'll head back there now" Flora said, walking away and lacing her fingers together behind her head. "It's a little early to go to bed, isn't it?"

"Suit yourself. But if you need me, you'll know where to find me. _On the bed_" she said, turning around and smirking. "Wait… bed… plus a Flora wanting to be naked… plus a me… equals… er… oh! Uh, j-jeez, ur, be-be right there! Uh, s-stay in school, kiddy! I-I gotta go!" Christian said, running towards Flora while yelling goodbye to Maddie. "Huh? Strange time to sleep…" Maddie murmured. Christian caught up with Flora. "Wait, so, if your implying what I think… are you really sure you wish to do this? I mean, considering what I am…" Flora locked eyes with him. "Christian, I slept with you even when I thought you were human. You being a virus doesn't change that… now come on!" Flora said, grabbing his arm and dragging him to their cabin.

Maddie got bored, so she decided to stack all of the furniture in the kitchen to pass the time. She was balancing a spoon on top of Keith's old helmet- which she borrowed- when she heard Natani's voice. "Hey! Where is everybody!? Hello? Stripes? Hey, I need to borrow your pet virus. You in h-whoa, what the…? Who in the world did that!?" Natani asked upon seeing the tower Maddie made. "Hey there, Mr. Wuffypants! Watcha doin'?" Maddie asked her. "**Wha**-!? Who are you!? Where did you come from?"

"Don't you remember? We've met twice before. I'm Lt. Madelyn Adelaide! But you can call me Maddie for short. Or Madness for long!"

"Oh, right… you. The one who wrote that heart-filled letter. What are you doing here?"

"I was sent with you guys to act as a military escort. From now on, Keith and I are going to be very close!"

"Y-you? Now listen pipsqueak, Keith doesn't need you, he's got me! T-to protect him!"

'…_Just as soon as I stop killing him'_ Natani thought, before saying, "Gah! I don't have time for this! Where is everyone? I need them here!"

"You do? Hm… oh! I think I know a way to get everybody's attention!"

"How's that?"

"Just watch!" Maddie said, plucking a salt shaker from the tip of a chair leg, causing the tower to rumble.

Christian and Flora were now in bed, both unclothed with the covers covering Christian's lower body as he stroked Flora's ruffled brown hair with one hand, and rubbed her stomach with the other. Flora sighed, saying, "I've missed this…. I'm still surprised how well you've been taking the news" Christian chuckled. "Yeah, I'm surprised I'm not insane… er, not the crazy murderous insane I've shown, just… regular insane"

"Good! I don't care much for that one"

"You know, I've been thinking… I think I was right when I said the virus adapted to your system. I mean, that makes sense, right?"

"It must be… but I'm not sure if the others will accept that. What if they all think I-"

"Let's not worry about that. If they have a problem with that, I can just bear my claws. don't worry 'bout them"

"You're right, Christian. Let's just enjoy the peace we have right now. I'm just glad there's nothing _**else **_for us to be worried about"

"Flora, don't!" Christian yelled, but it was too late, as they heard a giant "CRASH!" from the kitchen. Flora face-pawed. "Why! Why did I say that out loud!?" she yelled. She sighed and got out of bed. "Well, we'd better check it out. That crash sounded like it came from the kitchen, and Eric's sure to have heard it" Christian formed his cloths and got out of bed. "Ugh, It's too early for this… aren't you going to put your pj's on?"

"Oh! Right… actually, you know what? I think I'm good. They had to find out sometime, and you're right, it's not worth the stress of keeping it secret" she said, putting the pink pajamas down. "Well, if your sure… not that I'm complaining watching you walk around naked…"

"I'm sure. I've been wearing them for awhile, anyway. They were getting a little rank, to be honest" Christian shrugged as they ran out to the kitchen. Flora was first to enter. "H-hey! What's with all the yelling, you guys? Did something happen?… What?" she asked upon seeing their stares. Christian entered the room. "Wait! Flora, you… are you…?" Eric asked. "Eric! Don't go being mean to her now, too! She's just a bit pudgy! And she doesn't like it when people go pointing it out!" Kat yelled. "**Hey**! I'm not 'pudgy'!" Flora yelled. "See?" Kat said. "Would you all just shut up so I can explain!? And talk normal! I can't understand you human gibberish! You! Stripes! I need your virus! And you have to translate for me!" Natani yelled. "My virus? I'm not sick…"

"Hey! We aren't finished here, wolf!" Eric yelled, making Natani growl. "Either you give up those materials, or I'll have you put in the brig!" that's when everyone started yelling simultaneously. "This is my ship! It's my rules!"

"I'd like to see you try, human!"

"Listen, I'm really not tubby, I swear!"

"This is madness…"

"You can't just take back my gift!"

"I'm giving you until the count of three…"

"Rabble rabble!" Christian looked at who said that to see Maddie quickly slip out. "**HEY**! What's going on?" Keith yelled, entering with what looked like ceremonial black armor with a gold trim, followed by a red cape. "Your friends are scary…" said what looked like a frightened… ghost form of Laura. Christian screamed and backed away. "AH! NO! Oh, no! I'm not dealing with ghosts again! Not again! And I don't have any magic water! Last ghost I saw forced me to do what I did at that damn mansion!" Christian yelled, backing into a corner. "Hey! don't talk to Laura like that!" Keith yelled. "Screw Laura! Nothing good can come from ghosts!"

"She wouldn't harm a fly!"

"My Mom wouldn't harm a fly! You know what happened when she came back as a ghost? Raised the freaking dead!" Christian yelled, backing into a corner. Everyone looked at him in shock. "Wait… your Mom did what…?" Kat asked. "Forget it! We got bigger problems! Like a ding-dong-damn ghost!" Christian screamed. "It's not a ghost! That's what I've been trying to explain! She's an illusion- a spell that creates your heart's desire, while leaching away your life in exchange. And if it's not taken care of, it's going to end up killing him!" Natani yelled. "Wait, is that the thing you did to make Aya appear in the forest when we met?" Christian asked her. "Yes!" Keith shook a fist at her. "Shut up, Natani! don't talk about her like that! Laura is not an 'it'! She's real!"

"He's only saying that because he desperately wants it to b true! Of course the fake would say it's real! Flora, tell your virus to dispel it!" Natani yelled. "What am I supposed to do? Snap it's neck like I did with my illusion?" Christian asked. "That wouldn't work! Only Keith can do that!"

"Well, than I don't see what I can do!"

"She's not a fake! I know Laura. I can tell!" Keith yelled. "But Natani… what if Keith's right? We've seen ghosts before. What if it really is Laura?" Flora asked. "That's not the point! Are you people listening? Keith's going to die! And ghost _or _illusion, Laura. Is. **Dead**!"

"I'm not letting you take Laura away from me again, Natani! Why won't you just leave us alone? What do you have against her?"

"Keith…" ghost-Laura said. "'What do I- again'!? **RRRGH**! I'm doing all of this for **you**, ya moron! And you know it!"

"Well I never asked you to! So why can't you just leave me in peace!?"

"You know how hard it is for me to say stuff like this- especially in front of everybody! But… I… I need you, okay!? You're the best friend I have on this stupid boat. And right now, you need me, too. I won't let you destroy yourself, even if it means you hating me!"

"Ngh… Natani! I… I know. I know… and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I don't blame you, I just… I can't give up on Laura… **again**. I just can't! Not if there's a chance…"

"Alright, look, let's all just… calm down now. Natani, your right, we have to do something about this, but it would help if we knew exactly what we're dealing with. Maybe there's some way to prove one way or another what she really is" Flora suggested. "But there isn't! None of us knew Laura except Keith, and it's going to act just like he expects!"

"Well, wait, how exactly does this spell of yours work?"

"Like I said, it's a heart's desire spell. It takes your memories of a person and recreates it"

"But the illusion can't be perfect!… er, can it?"

"Well, no… it's only as good as the memories. That's probably the reason why she looks younger. It's how Keith remembers her best"

"But… then that's it, right? She looks young, s-so illusion, not ghost, yes?" Mike asked. "You would think, but it's not that simple… the illusion claims to be a spirit using the spell as a means of… manifesting itself"

"So, okay… if it really is an illusion, and it's only made from memories that Keith has… well, then it _is _simple! We just ask it something only Laura would know!" Flora said. "Yes, but… who else knows anything about Laura that Keith doesn't? None of us really had enough time to… get to know her" Kat asked. "No… there is someone else" Keith said. "Keith?" Flora asked. "Christian was there before she… at the beach. He was holding her, and she was awake"

"Keith, wait…" Laura pleaded. Keith continued, saying, "If he can prove to everyone what I know she is, then do it"

"Christian? Did you speak with Laura while you were carrying her?" Flora asked him. "No, but I can do you one better" he answered her. "May I ask what?" Natani asked. "You see, I had to inject her with my virus to partially heal her… to keep her alive for another minute so she could say goodbye to Keith… I needed her genetics to make it at least partially compatible with her, and absorbed her blood, along with her memories, to do so. I know everything Laura ever knew, so asking her a trivia question that she knew and Keith's doesn't should be easy" Christian explained. "Christian, that's… that's perfect!" Natani said. "Keith… you sure you want me to do this…?" Christian asked Keith. "Just get it over with" he snapped. "Fine then, Laura, my question to you… did you ever know that racist templar, Trace Legacy"?

"I… n-no, I never did meet him…" Laura said timidly. "Eh! Incorrect" Christian said. "What?" Keith asked, shocked. "They met before… after you left... and I think what happened would have burned a pretty deep hole in her psyche. So she's a fake" Christian explained. "I'm so sorry, Keith, I know this is hard-" Flora began, but Keith cut her off. "No! no, she's lying! You're lying to protect me, aren't you!? Tell them!" Keith yelled at Laura. "I-I can't!"

"Laura, don't do this to me! Tell the truth!"

"Keith! I don't know it!"

"**Tell them!" **he hugged her, tears forming. "Please… just show them… _please_… I need you to be real. Laura… I need you. I have nothing left…"

"…But you do. You have them. Your friends. People who care about you. People who love you. Even if I were the real Laura, she wouldn't want to see you wasting away for a few more days of life. She would want you to live on"

"I don't know if I can…"

"You have to, Keith. With them, I know you can" Christian walked forward. "Aw jeez, Keith… look, I know I can speak for all of us when I saw we all know what it's like to lose someone. Your family, Flora's family, Natani's family, my family… hell, everyone's family! You need to let go" Christian said. Keith looked harshly at Christian. "Oh really? What family did you lose!? They were erased instantly! They didn't die of pain, like everyone else! What do you know about loss" Christian turned a finger into a viral syringe, injecting it into his neck as Keith cringed in pain. "I know a lot about loss! My family died before I came here!… you know what? I'll just show you. I'll show you all of my memories of since I was born to the moment I came here… maybe then you'll understand" Christian said, turning his finger back to normal and walking off. Keith's pain stopped and he looked at Keith with sympathy. "Christian, I… I didn't know…I've been so stupid"

"No, Keith, you're just in pain. You've been in pain for so long. And I'm so sorry I added to it. But your friends can help you. Please don't stay bitter with the world. It's not what I… Laura would want"

"Yes, I get it. It's time. I'm not ready, but… I get it. Laura… you don't have to pretend anymore. I understand now. Natani… what do I do?"

"All you have to do is want it" she answered him. "Want… Laura gone? But… how can I want that?"

"No, Keith. It's about what you need _more_. And you know what that is. But you have to admit it to yourself! Keith, say it"

"I… you're right, Laura, you're right" he ripped his eye patch off, revealing his scratched eye, the edge of the whites irradiated red. "I forgot for awhile, but… I need to live. You helped me remember that" Keith said. Laura smiled as she started fading from existence, angelic wings starting to form. "I'm so glad. I think you've helped me too. As long as I know I'm not holding you back, I can content" she said as she disappeared. "Laura… La-uhh…" Keith sighed as he fell unconscious while reaching for her, falling in Natani's arms. "Woah! Hey, gotcha! The drain of the illusion is catching up with you. Come on. I'm taking you back to your room" she said, dragging him off. "Man, am I glad all of that's sorted now. Ghosts, that's just what we needed. Hopefully, no more drama crops up" Evals said. "Yeah… -sniff- I hear ya. Well, on a lighter note… I meant to say earlier, but I see you decided to open up about the baby. Congrats!" Mike said, throwing Flora a thumbs up. "Wait… what? You're pregnant!?" Kat yelled. "You mean you… really didn't figure that out already?… um, surprise?" Flora asked with a sheepish smile. "Dang it, Mike!" Evals and Christian yelled as they smacked Mike over the head, making him yip. "I knew she was… so, who did you sleep with?" Eric asked. "No-one but Christian…" Flora said weakly. "But… but that's impossible! Probably, I don't… I don't know if it would work with Christian, seeing what he is… if it is his, I don't want to see what kind of abomination it'll be…" Flora gasped softly and Christian's eyes glowed… black. They seemed to glow black, ridged with white. He formed a blade, which also glowed black, and held the blade tip to Eric's neck, making a drop of blood trickle. "You're calling my child an abomination…? I don't think I like that, Eric…" Christian said. "Christian, please, not again!" Flora yelled. Her voice calmed him, allowing him to turn back to normal, and he shifted his blade back to a hand. "What the- what happened?" Christian asked. "You almost killed me… again" Eric said. "Wha- I did…? When?"

"You… don't remember?"

"I remember you insulted Flora, than everything became… foggy, I dunno… I really tried…? Look, Eric, I'm sorry, I dunno what happened… Flora, I think we should go…" Christian said, grabbing her sleeve and running. When they entered their cabin, Flora was first to speak. "What was that?" she asked him. "I think… that was my Father's madness Jack mentioned… it happens the same way my red works with you… but with our child… but let's not dwell on that. It's been a long… morning I guess, it's mid-afternoon, huh" Christian remarked. "Christian… you showed Keith your memories… why?"

"I dunno, guess as a motivator"

"Well… could you show me?" Christian immediately locked eyes with her. "Flora… why…?"

"Well, I thought we said no secrets in this relationship? You know my past, so… I was wondering if I could know yours…"

"Flora… my past… is too dark for someone like you. It would be… you wouldn't be able to handle it…"

"Oh, I get it… you still don't trust me… after all we've been through…" Flora said, tearing up. "Okay, fine, I'll show you, just please don't cry again…" Christian said. Flora smiled. "Okay" Christian formed a viral syringe. "This is gonna hurt a bit… sorry…" Christian said as he jabbed Flora's neck, injecting his memories into her. He turned his finger back and set her on the bed as his memories coursed through her head…

Six months ago, before cross-dimension event: Drevis estate, midnight

Christian Drevis never did have an ordinary life. There was his Father, Albert Drevis, his Mother, Monika Drevis, their maid Maria, and his sister, Aya Drevis. They all lived in a giant mansion in the middle of the woods, with Father never letting them out beyond the mansion without him with them. Aya had never been to the city, and Christian only rarely. Despite this, they were a happy, peaceful family, loving and caring… but they had a dark secret. Father was a scientist, and naturally, needed subjects for his research. He stole people from the city… homeless people or people no-one would notice missing. He experimented on them, killed them… but nonetheless, they were a still a loving family. Until… Mother died of an illness. Aya took it worse, but after a year, she accepted it. It was two years now after her death. It was midnight, the night Christian turns sixteen. Aya was eleven. Christian was in his and Aya's room, reading his crooked book, his tennis shoes, sweats, and hoody on with the hood down. Aya entered, looking sad. "So what did Dad say?" he asked her, closing the book. "Oh… he said goodnight, than went to continue his work…" Aya said sadly. "Ugh, him and his work… it's gonna drive him insane. Well, c'mon, let's head for bed" Christian said. "Oh, by the way, happy birthday!" Aya said. "Heh, thanks sis" Christian said as they climbed into their beds. They only got twenty minutes of sleep when a ear-piercing scream echoed throughout the house. **"AAAHHH!" **Christian and Aya immediately woke up. "What the… was that Dad…?" Christian asked. "Yeah… sounded like it… we should go check on him" Aya suggested. "Yeah, good idea…" Christian said as they got out of bed and walked into the hallway. "Man, it's dark… wait, do you hear that…?" Christian asked when they heard a low moaning. They looked down the dark hallway to see two figures approach them… two rotting corpses walking towards them. "What the- oh holy… Aya get back!" Christian yelled as they retreated back into their room. "What the hell were those things!?" Christian asked. "I'm scared…" Aya cried. "Look, Aya, I don't know what's going on, or what those things were, but were gonna find Father, and were gonna… who are you?" Christian asked as a tall form walked out of the shadows. "A… business man" he answered. The figure was tall… very tall. He wore a black suit, was bald with pale skin, and red eyes. The most disconcerting thing about him was his pointed ears. "A business man? Wait, how'd you get in our room?" Christian asked him. "That doesn't matter, what matters is I explains some things" he answered. "Okay, that would certainly be nice… what's your name again?" Christian asked him. "Most people refer to me as Ogre"

"Ogre? Weird name…"

"Yes, well, I assume you have questions?"

"More like I wanna know why there's zombies outside"

"Ah yes, I'm afraid that a… curse has been set upon the mansion. Your familiar with your Father's work?"

"Yes…"

"Well, I'm afraid they have become restless, and the curse has awakened them, all of them seeking revenge"

"Whoa hey, back up, your saying that all of my Dad's experiments and cadavers… are alive…. And are trying to kill us…?"

"Yes, that's precisely what's happening"

"Fan… freaking… tastic… what do I do!?"

"I'm afraid your only option is to rescue your Father and leave this place. That should break the curse. I must go now" Ogre said, stepping back into the shadows and disappearing. "…Well… we're screwed…" Christian said. "That's now way to look at it like that! Come on, let's go!" Aya said. "I'm not even gonna ask how you're so optimistic about this… but your right. We shouldn't give up… C'mon" he said, grabbing his guitar. "Why do you need that?" Aya asked him. "'Cause of this" he said, turning a knob on the side and making a blade retract out of the top. "Eep! Where did that come from?" she asked him. "Oh, Dad did it in case I ever needed a weapon. don't know why, really, but thankful for it now" Christian said, opening the door and peering out. "Right, their gone… let's s'go" he said. "Maybe we should split up?"

"You realize there's zombies, right?"

"We'll cover more ground…"

"Ugh… do. You. Promise. To. Be. Careful?" he asked her slowly. "Yes, thank you brother!" Aya said rushing off. "She's gonna get herself killed one day…" Christian sighed as he walked down the hall into the library. "Hey, _crooked man_! I'm just gonna pocket this… wait, who are you…?" Christian asked upon seeing a tall blonde boy. "My name isn't important… I need to help you…" he said, turning. Christian saw that the right side of his face was burned off. Christian was about to raise his guitar when a knife flew by him, hitting the boy square in the head. "Ah! What the- Maria!? The hell you thinking!?" he yelled at her as she walked past him to pick up the knife from the fallen subject. "Well, in times like these you need to be prepared… where's Aya?" she quickly asked him. "I let her run off on her own, why?"

"What are you thinking!? She could be hurt!"

"Hey, she's a tough kid, she can handle her own" she shoved past him. "I severely hope your right. If your Father were here…" she muttered. Christian noticed something on the ground. "Eh? Oh, Maria dropped something… her diary…?" Christian opened it and flipped through the pages. "Oh… man, this is… very heavy… I'ma just pocket this too…" he put the diary in his pocket and walked out of the library, running into Aya. "Oh! Hey Aya, what are you doing back?" he asked her. "I need Snowball!" she answered. "Our rabbit? Why?"

"I just do!" she said as she ran into her room. Christian shrugged. "Ugh, I dunno about her sometimes… whoa…" Christian said as he reached the stairs to the floor below him… and saw three of the revived subjects. "Well, I'd better deal with this…" he said, jumping down the stairs and extending his guitar blade, chopping their head off with it. Aya ran down the stairs holding Snowball. "Oh my… you killed them?" she asked, shocked. "They could have killed us! Why didn't you tell me they were here!?" he asked her. "You seemed busy… wait here" she said, darting off. After ten minutes of standing, she came up to him. "Alright, let's go" she said. They walked into the kitchen cellar and Christian saw a lot of blood… "Aya, what happened?" he asked her. "Oh… there was a monster in the way so I had to burn it… I'd rather not talk about it" Christian shrugged as they walked to the other end of the corridor… and emerged in what looked like a cathedral. They saw their Father lying unconscious, and… "Mom!?" Christian yelled. Above their fallen Father was what appeared to be a ghost of their Mother. She didn't even speak. She just flew away, dragging Albert with her. "Did she cause this…?" Christian asked himself. "Why… w-why would Mom do this…" Aya asked herself. Christian put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey hey hey, look… I'm sure she has her reasons… look, she'll explain, probably, but we have to find her first… why don't you look around, and I'll look to?" he asked her. She brightened up, saying "Okay!" as she ran off. "…Okaaaayyy" he shrugged as he walked deeper into the mansion. He came upon what looked like a row of jars eventually, containing… "What the… was he cloning that rabbit? Man, Dad, what were you doing…" Christian asked himself upon seeing the rows of rabbits in jars. He continued on, at some points running into subjects… which he took care of. He even ran into knife-wielding dolls, which he also killed. After a good hour of exploring, Aya found him. "Hey, Christian! You wouldn't believe what's been happening to me… anyway, I found the lab Dad's in! the doors locked, but I found this girl, and I unlocked the incinerator. She said the door will unlock if we burn it" she said, handing him a small doll. "…Is that a chainsaw?" he asked upon seeing a small blue chainsaw in her hand. "Oh, I… uh… I needed it… can we just burn the doll…?" she asked him. "Ugh, we're gonna have a long talk after this…" she hopped on his shoulders as they walked to the incinerator… which was a giant hole, fire sprouting from the bottom. "Jeez, didn't even know we had this…" Christian muttered. The doll struggled in his hand. It was about to speak, but he chucked it into the fire before it could. "Alright, after hours of this madness, I'm starting to get sick of this… let's just go" he said as he ran to the doors Aya pointed to. He opened them and walked down into a metal corridor into the lab, tubes with bodies in them, and the giant tube in the middle having what looked like a portal in it. "This is…" Aya said, but stopped. "This will take you to the other world" Ogre said, appearing from the shadows. "Ugh, this yahoo again… what do you want?" Christian asked. "He's up ahead…" Aya said. "Are you truly going? A reality too harsh for such a young lady may be awaiting you. Will you still go?" he asked her. "I'll go" Christian said, letting Aya down. "Christian-!" Aya began, but stopped her. "Look, he's right, it may be dangerous… I'll get him back" he said. "You seem adamant. Then let me give you this" he said, giving Christian a glass bottle of water. "…Water…?" he asked him. "Magic water. A product of my company"

"Magic… you know what, I don't really care anymore…"

"Please take this with you. The power within the water shall no doubt be of help to you"

"So I can save Dad with this?"

"Of course. The water has the power to seal the power of the curse"

"Stop the curse… what of my Mother…?"

"She'll be put to rest, I'm sure she will. If your love reaches her, I am sure your Mother can be saved"

"Well, I'm going by you… thanks, dude!"

"It was nothing, mister. I pray for your safety" Ogre finished, stepping into the shadows. Aya walked up to him. "Christian… do you love me?"

"Yes"

"Then promise me… promise me you'll bring them back…"

"I can't promise anything, Aya…" Christian said… before leaping into the portal.

Christian woke up on a red floor, surrounded by blackness. "Well this is… disconcerting. So this is the other world…" Christian said as he walked ahead. Eventually he found his Mom hovering over his fallen Dad. "…Mom…" Christian breathed. She looked worse for wear. She still had her light brown flowing hair, but her eyes were hidden from the shadows, and her dress bloody. "So you came, Christian…" Monika said. Christian reached out to touch her… but a flash of energy propelled him back. "What was that for!?" Christian yelled. "You shouldn't have come. You've seen it on your way here, haven't you, Christian? The atrocities this man continues to commit? I don't want any more victims of his!"

"That's a lie! You always understood his reasons! It's because of Maria your doing this! I read her diary! He had an affair with her, and you knew. You're just doing this out of jealousy because she took him away"

"Haha… hahaha… I know that. Yes, it's all as you say. I couldn't stand to see your Father and Maria together…"

"So why are you doing this!?"

"I don't want to make him suffer… I don't want to give him to anyone. So I'm taking him with me"

"Your kidding. Think of Aya here! Think of what'd you'd do!"

"I know what I am doing! I want you two to live and be happy"

"She can't without you… or him. I promised her I'd bring at least one of you back"

She started glowing purple as she yelled, "NO ONE SHALL INTERFERE… now, honey, let us go…" she said, grabbing Albert and opening a portal.

"Chris…tian… Christian!" Father yelled. Christian saw his left lense in his glasses were cracked and missing. Christian ran ahead and grabbed him, propelling him back again, but dragging him with him.

"Christian… why won't you listen to your Mother?"

"you're not taking him…"

"Out of my… WAAAAAYYYYY! NO ONE SHALL HAVE HIM! HE IS MINE ALONE" she yelled, flying towards him. "Sorry, Mother…" Christian said, taking the bottle out. "C-Christian? What are YOU DOING?" she asked as he splashed the water on her. "Stop, Christian!… I'm fa…ding… my body is disappearing…" she said. Christian reached out to her, the world breaking as Christian's vision blurred. He regained focus and saw he was in the lab, his Father on the floor and shaking him awake. He looked behind him to see the tube the portal was in covered by a cloth. "Father!" Aya yelled. Father groaned. "Oogh… hm…? Was I… saved? Aya…?"

"Father…!"

"Aya… I'm sorry, Aya… I worried you so…"

"Christian, where's Mommy…?"

"I… couldn't save her…"

"Father… Mom…"

"Yes, I know… she must have been lonely. We'll visit her grave tomorrow so her spirit won't be…"

"O… okay…"

Suddenly the ghost of their Mother appeared behind Christian, but only he noticed, but was too weak to speak. "Christian… Aya… I didn't want you to know the truth. But with the last of my power…" she flew into Christian, a vision filling his vision. He saw that he was in a lab full of bodies, Father and Maria in it. "Great, I'm tripping…" Christian muttered. "A fine sample…" the vision of Father said. "I shall dispose of the remaining materials myself" the vision of Maria said. "That can wait. Come, Maria"

"Doctor…" she flung herself on him as they pressed their lips against each others. "…Bitch…" Christian muttered. "Doctor… they're aware of our… relationship"

"Hm? What does it matter?"

"I don't believe they are fond of me. That is the problem"

"Damn right…"

"The girl will be eleven soon, the boy sixteen. It's a troublesome age, to be sure… be kind to them, please. Make sure they are never harmed. She is my most precious… dolls of them all"

"Wait… what…?" the vision flashed as he was outside the lab. He saw his Mom approach the door to the lab. "Must be a different vision before she died… doll…?" Christian muttered. Her eyes were uncovered, showing their big, blue irises. "He's always spending all his time down in the basemen… don't tell me he's with that girl again…" she muttered as she listened against the door. He heard Maria's voice from inside. "Doctor, Mistress Aya has become rather ladylike, and Christian quite the musician. And to think, they always used to tease you and bother you…" he heard his Father's voice speak, "Hahaha… indeed. Just a little more, I think… a little more until they're ripe. I want to make them into the most beautiful dolls I can"

"What… was that…?" Mom asked.

"They shall be the masterpieces of all the dolls I've made"

"Wh-what… make them into dolls?"

"I shall clean up the unnecessary materials"

"Please do"

"I'll never forgive you… you'll never make our precious son and daughter into more of your subjects!" Mom shouted as she burst into the room. "You! What's the meaning of this!? Are you planning to experiment on them!?"

"So you overheard…"

"What are you thinking!? There are one and only treasure!"

"Exactly! They're wondrous children! I want to make them eternally so! And yet, they… will someday be dirtied… that. I cannot bear to think! So I will make them into dolls!"

"I don't believe this…! I'll never let you do that! I'm leaving!"

"What are you saying?"

"If you want dolls of them so badly, just make replicas!"

"Wait. Are you planning to take them away? That. I cannot allow"

"Let go!"

"I won't let you do what you will with them!" he grabbed a scalpel and stabbed her with it, slashing her chest. "Ah… aah… h…"

"M-Mom… I can't believe… that illness didn't kill you… Dad did…? My god… no…"

"Milady! Milady! Stay with us! Doctor! Why did you do this!?"

"It had to be done… for Christian's and Aya's future"

"B-but…! Milady…"

"Don't speak of this to them"

"But…!"

"she was already feeble. Say she passed away from a fit"

"I can't tell them…"

"Are you refusing my order?"

"N-no… that's not what…"

"Maria…"

"Whatever happens, I am loyal to you, doctor…"

"Because you are my assistant"

"Aah… doctor…"

"Now, how shall we dispose of the body… naturally, Christian or Aya must not see it" they disappeared as Christian walked towards the body. "I can't believe… this can't be real…"

"This is real… this is reality!" Monika said as her ghost for leaped from the body. He saw tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Christian… your Mother… still loves your Father even now. So… I didn't kill him… but… I should have… run away… take your sister and run away from him…" the vision receded as Christian looked at his Father in horror. "Christian? Christian, what's wrong? Why do you look so afraid of your Father?"

"What happened, Christian?" Aya asked. Christian stepped back. "Stay away from me you monster…" he bumped up against the cloth, making it fall as they all viewed the contents of the tube, which housed a naked and preserved Monika. "The hell… why the hell did you do it!?" Christian screamed. "Christian… very well" he put a sick smile on his face. "Well, Christian…? don't you think your mother's beautiful?"

"…What?"

"I suppose it's a bit much to take in… I wanted just a little more time, but…"

"Your going to turn us into dolls…?"

"Christian… what's mommy doing there? What's going on…?"

"Don't be so sad, children. By making you dolls, your beauty can last forever! Look at these children! Beautiful, yes?" he gestured to his subjects. "Preserved just as they were when alive! This is the fruit of my research! You can hardly even tell they're dolls, can you? But their heads, eyes, torsos, hands, legs… they were gathered from a wide array of people! I find it quite fascinating! Combine a dog with a human if you so desire! isn't that incredible? What would you like to be, Christian? Aya? Alas, I can't make many changes while preserving your loveliness…"

"Father… stop…"

"Ah, yes… perhaps I'll dress you up so finely! Tell me whatever you wish to wear!"

"Nooo…!"

"Aya! Maria, deal with her brother…" Christian looked behind him as he was struck unconscious by said maid. When he came to, he was on a operating table. He looked to see Aya in one on the tubes. He jumped out and immediately ran over to her, to see the cuts and scars. She was dead, preserved. A doll. Christian fell to his knees. "Aya… no… he killed her… I failed…" he saw his Father enter. "Ah, Christian, you're awake. I was hoping you wouldn't have to see this" Christian looked up at him. "Aya… oh, no… my god, no… what the hell did you do to her, you bastard!?"

"I simply made her perfect… now her beauty is preserved, and we can be together… forever… come, Christian, it's your turn"

"You sick fuck, I'll kill you! You son of a bitch!"

"Now, that's no way to talk to your Father, Christian!" he yelled, pulling a large blue chainsaw out. Christian ran to the door. "Christian! Where are you going? Come. Be by your Father!"

"No…!"

"Are you refusing your Father?

"Screw you and your damn embalming research!" Christian yelled, running away and closing the door, putting a mannequin in front of the door to block it… which Albert started cutting up. "Chrissstiaan…" he sang while cutting. The door to next room was stuck. "Open, Damnit!" Christian yelled. The door was cut open as his Father entered, cackling madly. "Christiaaaan! No running awaaaAAAY!" he sang. "Says you!" Christian yelled as he bashed through the door, running through the hall as his Father chased him. He ran through the door at the end and locked it, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He kept running and ran into Maria, trying to stop him. "Outta my way!" he yelled, punching her to the ground as he continued running. He ran into a room with beds and blood covered sheets, bodies under them. He saw a bed with no body, and climbed onto it, covering himself with the sheet, posing as a dead body. He heard them enter. "Mister, where…"

"Where did Christian go?"

"I apologize. I lost sight of him"

"What…?"

"I-I'm terribly sorry! I-I am certain he could not be far… let us search elsewhere…"

"You USELESS…!" Christian heard the chainsaw rev as Albert killed Maria, and left. He got off of the bed and went to her body. "…That was for Mom…" he muttered as he found his way from the lab. He managed to run into the cathedral when he fell down. He looked to see the Aya doll holding his foot. "Aya…! let go!" he looked at the altar to see his Father standing on it. "That's enough of our game of tag, Christian. I have to keep you still, don't I?" he jumped down from the altar. "I didn't want to hurt you, Christian… it's a shame"

"Then don't!"

"But I could cover your leg with another pair of sweatpants easily enough. So it should be fine"

"Your crazy! Stop doing this, you madman!"

"Christian… don't worry. Father and Christian will always be together now. And Aya. So rest in peace… Christian… I love you" he would have died then… if the blonde boy from before hadn't taken a candle stick and stabbed him in the back. "Ugh! Why you…!" he dropped the chainsaw and began to strangle the boy. "Christian… burn this place…" the boy gasped before he died. "This ends now!" Christian yelled, picking the chainsaw and revving it up… impaling his Father with it. "Ahg… Christian…" he turned around and stuck his neck with a needle. "Ah! What the-?"

"A gift… that I made… use it well… Christian… I…love…you…"

"I've had enough of you…" Christian muttered… before attacking him with the chainsaw, slicing him into a unrecognizable pile of gore, and impaled the chainsaw on it. He went the boy. "Christian… none of us had families… we'll be forgotten… don't forget our sacrifice… burn this place… so this won't happen again…" he gasped. Christian rubbed the spot he was injected. "I won't forget… and I will… thank you…" the boy nodded as Christian burned the drapes with a candle, than walked out of the mansion, watching it burn to the ground.

The memory ended there.

Flora stopped feeling pain upon the memory stopped. She had tears in her eyes as she looked at Christian. "Ugh, look, Flora-" he was cut off when she gave him a bone-crushing hug, sobbing into his chest. "Oh, Christian! Why didn't you tell us!? No-one deserves to have something like that happen to them! I'm o sorry…!" Christian didn't really know what to do at that point. He honestly felt like crying too… which he did. "I-I couldn't save her…" he sobbed. "It wasn't your fault, no-one could have done anything…"

"I shouldn't have stopped Mom, I should have let her take him…"

"You couldn't have known…"

"It's my fault their dead!"

"It's not! Christian, it's not your fault. You can't blame yourself" she looked into his eyes. "You shouldn't blame yourself. It was your Father, and you made sure he paid. Now in order to cheer you up, I thought we would go stargazing tonight, and I won't take 'no' for an answer. So I'll see you on the ship deck tonight. I need to go talk to Keith, but I'll be back" she said as she ran out. "…Stargazing…?" Christian asked himself.

** A/N- And done! Sorry it took a little longer, but I needed to load "Mad Father" videos for the quotes, and my internet is not the best, the fact I uploaded this is a miracle. Now then, I'm defiantly gonna have to hold back on the chapters until Tom draws more, so it won't come out for possibly… months… but I'll be writing other stuff, so don't fret! Also I used the song from the "Dragon's Dogma" game. Also, if anyone else wants to use the mutation weapons I made, feel free to. Anyway… not the end, gonna take awhile, I hate it too, I love writing this, and I hate that I have to hold out like this, so sorry. Look for my new story, I'm really just writing it to pass the time until I get more chapters from Tom. Cya! **


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